AOP clinical and professional director Dr Peter Hampson joins LOCSU executive board

Clinical and professional director at the AOP, Dr Peter Hampson, has been appointed to the Local Optical Committee Support Unit (LOCSU) executive board.

As the AOP’s representative on the board, Hampson’s role will involve supporting the LOCSU team on strategy and ensuring that it has a “firm and sustainable future.”

He was appointed on 2 December, and has replaced Trevor Warburton, the previous AOP-nominated LOCSU board member.

Hampson said: “Trevor had a wealth of experience across the sector, and his will be big shoes to fill.”

On his priorities as part of the board, he said: “With the current NHS backlog due to COVID-19 and the aims of the ophthalmology transformation project to deliver more care outside of a hospital setting, the focus will be on ensuring that primary care optometry is well placed to help tackle this challenge.

“Optometrists and dispensing opticians are perfectly placed to help tackle this backlog and maximising the opportunities for them to do so is at the top of the priority list.”

He added: “The AOP is a founder member of LOCSU, and AOP members sit on many local optical committees (LOCs) up and down the country.

“As we head into another period of NHS reorganisation, LOCs will be crucial to ensure that the new structures don’t forget primary care optical professionals. As a longstanding LOC member, I understand the important work that LOCs do, and my aim is to ensure that LOCSU delivers what they need to perform that important task.”