Viewpoint: Learning from history

I would like to start this month’s column with outlandish praise for the efforts made over recent months by our various leaders in securing the momentous announcement by the Labour Party on the role of optometric services in the future. The announcement isn’t a done deal but the fact it happened is cause for optimism.

We now find ourselves at a similar point that the profession found itself while negotiating its original relationship with the fledgling NHS in 1948. It is a momentous time and what happens next must achieve a better outcome than our negotiators achieved for us then. We are where we are thanks to some very dynamic leaders and the same could be said of what happened back in history.