Rewarding the best

Contribution to CET
Dollond & Aitchison The Opticians is once again proud to sponsor the optician Award for Contributions to CET 2005.
This award rewards the author of the CET article found to be of most use to the readers of optician. Entry into this category is through a continuous selection process based upon comments and preferences made by readers participating in optician CET and has been judged by a panel selected by Bill Harvey, clinical editor.
CET is fundamental to both the development of the professional and their profession. We have now entered the world of compulsory CET, and thus it will now take on even greater significance within the optical professional's life. Previous research commissioned by DOCET has shown that the level of service received and appreciated by one's patients is directly related to the extent of CET (including relevance, availability and quality) taken up by the practitioner.
D&A firmly believes that remaining successful within the optical industry for as long as we have can be accredited to our provision of effective ongoing professional development for all clinical colleagues. Competence breeds confidence, and confidence breeds success. In terms of pre-registration development, our graduate optometrist and student dispensing programmes are among the most successful in the UK. Our newly-qualified optometrist programmes ensure that our youngest OOs understand how to be effective in their relationships with their patients. Meanwhile, our further programmes of five-day residential conferences for our optometrists, offering a new format and perspective in terms of optometric development, will help in our aspiration to provide a good service for all customers.
Technology Practice of the Year
Grafton Optical is pleased to sponsor the Technology Practice of the Year category in the optician Awards. We feel it is not only the most prestigious event in the optical calendar, but it gives a real opportunity for practitioners who are proud of their practice and achievements, to show what the latest instruments and technology wisely invested in their practices can offer patients.
We believe the increased use of equipment such as auto- tonometers, auto-perimeters, corneal topographers and image capture systems all linked to effective databases can only help with the detection of such eye disorders and diseases as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.
As an independentlyowned organisation we are not constrained to one manufacturer and can supply what we believe to be the best instrumentation available for the modern practice.
Managing director Brian Bowles says he is interested to see how practices use technology and wants to support the optician Awards as a way of allowing practices to share that information with other practitioners. 'I want to link technology with difficult conditions that an optometrist might have to detect, not necessarily within the basic sight test but on the pathology side of the consultation,' says Bowles. These conditions might include diabetic retinopathy, AMD, glaucoma or retinal detachment.
He says a wide range of techniques such as perimetry, tonometry, corneal topography and diagnostic imaging are becoming increasingly important. Once these are linked to the various forms of storage and incorporated within communication systems at hospitals, they become crucial to good eye care, he says. 'Using pretty pictures can be a good marketing tool, but technology can also be used to build up the esteem of the practice by letting people know what technology a practice has.'
Grafton urges all practices to enter and makes the point that winning isn't just about spending lots of money: 'People should not be put off by lack of buying power. It's not the type and amount of equipment you have but how you use what you have that matters.'

CL Practice of the Year
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care is delighted to continue its commitment to promoting excellence in contact lens practice by sponsoring the optician Awards' Contact Lens Practice of the Year category.
Through sponsorship of this award, J&J Vision Care is demonstrating an ongoing investment to identify and support best practice within the UK eye care profession by rewarding excellence in the area of contact lens promotion and dispensing.
Clinical and educational initiatives such as the J&J Vision Care Academy In Practice programme and the Acuvue Centre of Excellence scheme, aim to encourage active recommendation of contact lenses and ensure that lenses are visible and well promoted.
J&J Vision Care supports the work individuals carry out every day in their practice by providing tools which enable them to grow their own contact lens business.
'Contact lenses should play a central role in an optical practice, and we want to recognise eye care professionals who seek to offer their patients choice and service when it comes to helping them decide on the best way to treat their sight correction,' comments David Ruston, professional affairs manager for J&J Vision Care.
The winner of the Contact Lens Practice of the Year will not only have to demonstrate that their clinical contact lens skills are second to none, but also that they recognise the opportunities that contact lenses bring in growing their business.
If you feel your practice meets these high standards, please make time to enter for this prestigious award.

Entry forms are available from chris.bennett@rbi.co.uk