View from the AOP: Putting you first

The AOP is always striving to represent our members’ interests in the best way we can. At the beginning of 2016 we asked members what they felt the key threats, challenges and opportunities were for the profession. The responses we received revealed many were concerned with the pressures felt within the workplace. Concerns raised included stress and salary depreciation among others, and we felt it was important to explore these further.

In response, we issued a competitive tender in the spring of 2016 for a qualitative and quantitative research project looking to understand the health, wellbeing and aspirations of the optometric workforce. We commissioned Aston University to conduct this research and a lead researcher has been appointed to deliver this under the supervision of Dr Hannah Bartlett, reader in optometry at Aston University. Aston will be presenting the final report in January 2017.