News last week that Chris Hunt was to step down from his position as chairman of the Optical Confederation (OC) has prompted the association alliance to launch an internal review of all aspects of its work and its role in the future.
But does an alliance where each of the five member bodies are working towards individual goals still have a place in an increasingly fragmented optical landscape in the UK?
‘Absolutely,’ said FODO chief executive David Hewlett emphatically. ‘There is more need now for the OC bodies and partners to work together than ever before. General Ophthalmic Services are severely undervalued and underfunded, the review of regulators is back on the agenda, the education and training for optometrists and opticians is up for review.
‘NHS commissioning in England is fragmented and poor, IT connectivity to the NHS needs to be better and supported, we need to gear up for more eye care outside hospitals and also to respond positively to the impacts of technology as set out in the Foresight Project Report.’
This was a view shared by chief executive of the AOP, Henrietta Alderman, who said: ‘The AOP remains committed to ensuring there is a single voice, through an alliance with the sector, on strategic eye health issues and in our communications with government.
‘It is always good practice to review structures after a period of time and this point of change presents an opportunity to evaluate our approach and way of doing things. The review will help support and build on the excellent work of the OC public affairs team.’
New master of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (WCSM) Don Grocott (pictured left) said the Confederation had been strengthened under Chris Hunt’s chairmanship and was in a good position for the future.
‘It is quite certain that the OC will adapt to the change brought about by Chris’s decision to step down,’ he said. ‘The rapid developments in the sector, which were aired at a recent Eye-to-Eye meeting held by the WCSM and fully reported in Optician, are further reasons for the sector to work together in a unified way.’
Outgoing chairman of the OC, Hunt, reflected on his tenure: ‘I have greatly enjoyed my role as chairman of the OC and have gained a real insight into the ability of the member organisations to work together for the benefit of the sector and the patients we serve.
‘However, I now feel it is the right time to return to my wider interests in optics and take up other opportunities which I have put on hold while chairing the OC. I will maintain a close interest in its work and will continue to advocate the merits of a single voice for optics.’
A united front
The OC was formed in 2010 with the intention of a ‘strong united voice for excellence in UK optics,’ that would represent patients, professionals and the sector as a whole. As reported in Optician at the time, John Fried, deputy master of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers said joint committees had been in operation for some time and that he ‘doubted that any members would go back to the bad old days of each body deciding on its view without consultation, acting unilaterally and then fighting it out against all-comers.’
Publicly, the Confederation has maintained this united front and it is clear stakeholders believe the OC has a role to play in piecing this front together. However, Optician understands that, privately, there has been internal wrangling inside the Confederation in the past over subjects such as association backing of exhibitions.
Direction will be key in the Confederation of the future. This could well be harder to achieve following the decision to not to appoint a chairman in the first instance and rotate the position between the member bodies until the review is completed.
Visibility
David Hewlett said the Confederation’s joint public affairs work has turned it into a recognised brand in Parliament and elsewhere in ways that the individual bodies could never be. ‘Governments, regulators and the NHS love to divide and rule – just look at what has happened with CCG commissioning in England – and we have achieved so much together. Now more than ever is the time the four UK countries should bind closely together to make the best of each country’s systems and opportunities to meet the growing eye health needs of our populations,’ he said.
Access to MPs has been one of the Confederation’s strong points. Last month it had an audience with Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, David Mowat MP to discuss Minor Eye Care Services (Mecs) and potential roll out to commissioning areas across England. Mowat, Hunt and Alderman discussed the pressures facing hospitals and GPs and the value of community optical practitioners supporting NHS care with the minister. Talks also covered the public health role of the sight test and the scope for utilising local practices to allow more routine services to be brought out of hospital and provided closer to home. According to the Confederation, Mowat expressed surprise that eye health was not higher up the NHS agenda.
Despite raising the profile of eye health among politicians, questions still loom over awareness at practitioner level. ‘I’ve never heard of the Optical Confederation or what they do,’ said Pratful Shah, practice manager at P Shah Opticians in Shoreditch. ‘If they have been making changes, I didn’t realise it was them who was making it happen and I didn’t know that they had done any lobbying.’
In addition, a social media poll carried out by Optician showed 83% of respondents were not aware of the work carried out by the Confederation.
Any new chairman could be forgiven for thinking that leading such an alliance would be a thankless task.
Who makes up the Optical Confederation?
AOP
The most lucrative of the Optical Confederation’s member bodies, the AOP has 16,500 members with an annual turnover of £7.6m. Members receive insurance and a legal package together with CET. ‘We’re an organisation that listens, represents and stands up for our members to government, the media and public,’ a spokesperson said in June.
FODO
The organisation often most vocal on behalf of the Optical Confederation, FODO represent 85% of the UK optical market by sales and last year posted an annual turnover of £1.2m. FODO says the advice and guidelines it offers members is always carried out through the Optical Confederation in the UK to reduce risk and costs for the sector. It also offers professional liability and legal defence insurance for members.
ABDO
With 5,866 members from across the optical profession, the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) has an annual turnover of £3.1m. It offers professional qualifications for dispensing opticians, but also advice and guidelines, CET, professional indemnity insurance and personal accident cover.
FMO
Set up in 1917, the FMO works closely with government departments to represent optical companies involved in all aspects of manufacturing, importing and wholesaling of spectacles. Together with Optician publisher MAG, the FMO also runs the UK’s largest optical exhibition, Optrafair.
ACLM
Established in 1962 to publicise the work of UK manufacturers, to develop new products and to raise standards, the ACLM now represents the manufacturers of more than 95% of all prescription contact lenses and lens care products in the UK.
Taken from our Optical bodies review 2016.
Additional reporting by Jo Gallacher.