First impressions count

Who is the most important person in your practice? It's very likely to be a member of your optical support staff. Why? Because that's the person your customers are probably going to meet first.
The impression of the practice that your support staff provide will determine whether or not the optometrist, the dispensing optician, the practice manager, or anyone else ever gets to see the customer - let alone provide any form of service for them in terms of eye test and subsequent sale.
Anyone entering an ophthalmic practice today expects a number of things to be provided as standard. Provision of an interesting and varied range of frames and lenses to choose from and well-designed, pleasant surroundings in which to have their eyes tested and make their choice of glasses or contact lenses are prerequisites for a successful practice. But the simple fact is that no matter how good a practice looks and how many designer frames it stocks, if the customer does not feel welcome and is not dealt with immediately by someone who is professional, competent and knowledgeable, that customer is going to walk away.
This makes it extremely important for practices to ensure their support staff are carefully selected and trained to undertake their crucial, but often undervalued, role. This is not to say that many practices, both large and small, groups and independents, do not train support staff effectively. Those who do should be applauded for their efforts. But even when support staff are trained, the levels of training differ from practice to practice and company to company.
The Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (SMC) recognised the need to provide a correspondence course which would cover the subjects practice support staff need knowledge of - from a background of the optical profession, basic anatomy and function of the eye, spectacle prescriptions and transposition, through to spectacle frame materials, frame construction and spectacle dispensing. The result is the new updated Level 2 course in Optical Practice Support.
The SMC's chairman of training, David Walker, says: 'We wanted to provide a course that would be accessible for those just beginning their career in ophthalmics and for support staff who have already spent time in a practice but wish to increase their knowledge and enhance their prospects'.

UNIVERSAL ACCEPTANCE
'The other thing we wanted to achieve was the construction of a course which would be universally accepted and acknowledged as a benchmark for excellence by practices the length and breadth of the country - a course that employers realise supplements the training they themselves provide and adds value for the practice and its customers.'
The one-year course is designed to fit easily into the busiest job schedule and lifestyle, requiring a few hours' study each week and culminating in a two-hour written examination which provides the nationally accredited Level 2 Certificate in Optical Practice Support. Students work at their own pace and each is allocated a personal tutor who takes them through a series of papers covering the complete syllabus.
The syllabus itself is split into five different sections covering 'Optical practice,' 'The eye and ametropia,' 'Basic optics and spectacle lenses,' 'Frames and fitting' and 'Contact lenses'.
Each section is broken down into the different elements support staff need to gain knowledge of in order to develop a better understanding of the functions of a practice and become more confident when dealing with customers.

course content
A look at just one of the sections, 'Basic optics and spectacle lenses', demonstrates just how thorough the course content is:

The history of optics - The basic history of optics; early lenses and spectacle frames; and the materials used in their manufacture to the present day
Spectacle prescriptions and transposition - The elements of a spectacle prescription; British/European National Standards governing such prescriptions; how to set the prescription out in a form understandable to the lens manufacturer; and transposition
Lenses and units of measurement - Definition of lenses; basic lens forms; dioptres as unit of measurement; focal length of a lens; cylindrical lenses and the meaning of 'axis'
Bifocal, trifocal and progressive lenses - Designs of bifocal, trifocal and progressive lenses; the application of these lenses; and their advantages and disadvantages
Special lenses - Safety lenses; polarising, photochromatic, tinted and absorptive lenses; other special-purpose spectacles, such as for use with a hearing aid
Spectacle lens design - Basic lens design, outline of the aberrations that can occur in lenses; and the concept of 'best form' lenses
Coatings and tints - Types of lens coating for specific purposes; and types of tinted lens
Optical centres, PD and decentration - The significance of optical centres; methods of measuring a patient's PD; and the need for lens decentration
Prisms - Definition of a prism and its effect on light; the application of prisms in spectacle prescriptions; the specification of prism base direction; and the different methods used in detailing the 360 rotation.

Walker is, however, keen to point out that potential students should not be overawed when looking at the syllabus. It is, he says, 'gently challenging', rather than academically or technically difficult.
'We want students to feel they have really achieved something, but at the same time we have recognised that the content must be able to be assimilated and understood by people who may not have many formal qualifications in terms of GCSEs or A-Levels, or might have been away from school or college for some years.'
The proof of the pudding is, of course, in the eating and the best way to judge the Level 2 Certificate in Practice Support is to hear what the students who have completed it have to say.
Joy Sanderson from Janet King Opticians in Wigton, Cumbria explains: 'It wasn't until I undertook this course that I realised all the different aspects of the job. I learned so much and it's helped me to help our customers. I can now answer the majority of questions people ask with confidence and authority. To be awarded the Certificate in Optical Support was a thrill. I'm so glad I did it.'
Her comments were endorsed by another successful student, Julie Devan of Peebles & Wayte in Scunthorpe. 'It's a good course with good content and a great confidence-builder. Since doing it I contribute more to the efficient running of the practice, which is great for me, my employer and our customers.'
Employers too are happy to recognise the SMC certificate as an indication of the holder's ability to make a positive contribution to the successful operation of an optical practice.
Gordon Jones, the SMC's chairman of awards, stresses the fact that the certificate is the benchmark of excellence that employers are looking for.
Achieving the Level 2 qualification, he says, 'clearly shows that the employee has committed themselves to enhancing their skills and continuing their personal development'.

The NEXT STEP
The next development is the Level 3 Certificate in Optical Practice Support, which, says Jones, 'takes the student further along their career path'.
The Level 3 Certificate has now been accredited by the regulatory authorities and the course will begin in 2006.
A new Level 2 course is about to begin on October 1, and there are just a few places left. The next Level 2 course begins in January 2006. Anyone interested in either course should contact the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers on: 020 7236 2932/8645, fax: 020 7329 3249 or email: administrator@spectaclemakers.com, stating clearly which one they are interested in.
The days of practices simply having a receptionist who makes appointments and 'meets and greets' customers are long gone. Those duties may still be important, but today's support staff need to know much more in order to contribute successfully to their practice. The SMC courses are helping them to do exactly that.