OT asks...

What will be the most important skill for those graduating in optometry in five years’ time?

Optometrists who spoke to OT for the Life in practice section of The future workforce edition answer one key question

5 min read 4

A woman's eyes are tested using a Photopter, determining whether she is due for an update in glasses prescription. Colorful lights add a futuristic feel to the image

Getty/RyanJLane

22 October 2024

Contributors to OT’s Life in practice section for the October/November edition answer a burning question. This time, we are thinking about the top skills that will be required of the future optometry workforce.

Rebecca King, optometrist-director at See to it Opticians

Featured in: Decoding domiciliary

Rebecca has long blonde hair and is smiling at the camera and wearing a black shirt

Rebecca King

“I think new optometrists need to be willing to keep learning. Technology available to optometrists is advancing all the time and there will be new roles an optometrist will be able to do to help relieve the pressure on secondary care.”

Read Rebecca’s Decoding domiciliary reflections in the October/November print edition, and online now.

Andrew Bridges, director of professional services at Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care

Featured in: How I got here

Andrew Bridges

“I think an element of independent prescribing (IP) will be key. Linked to that will need to be a rethinking of the strategy around enhanced schemes. Minor Eye Conditions Services (MECS) and the Primary Eyecare Assessment and Referral Service (PEARS) can potentially reduce hundreds of thousands of GP or eye casualty appointments, which are a wasted journey for that patient if the clinician they’re seeing doesn’t have the instrumentation or experience to be able to identify a condition.

“There’s currently a postcode lottery, where you can have a local scheme, be it glaucoma, MECS, or low vision. The patient might be eligible for the scheme, but if they live two miles down the road, they may not be. Equalising that care is absolutely vital to helping support the shortage of ophthalmologists, and the stress and strains on ophthalmology departments. If more straightforward cases can be managed in the community, it means specialist resources and knowledge can be utilised to treats conditions like glaucoma.”

Read Andrew’s How I got here career journey in the October/November print edition, and online now.

Niraj Patel, locum optometrist

Featured in: Life as a locum

Niraj Patel

“Communication and adaptability. That’s key in optometry’s patient-facing environment. If those entering the profession opt to go into locuming, that's a really important skill.

“Within the role of a resident optometrist, things are developing, and you’ve now got MECS, post-cataracts, and glaucoma refinement schemes. It’s important to understand that things are going to change. You need to evolve how you do things, equipment-wise, as well as with your systems and techniques.”

Read Niraj’s Life as a locum reflections in the October/November print edition, and online now.

Remlah Issa, optometrist at Moorfields Eye Hospital (formerly Royal Stoke Hospital)

Featured in: You had me at hospital

Remlah Issa

“The ability to be flexible and adapt. The profession is going through massive changes in how we practice as optometrists now. There has been a big expansion in our role, the kinds of clinics we look after, shared care schemes in hospital and community – there has been a lot of upskilling, which is brilliant, but it’s so easy to be stuck in our ways.

“I’m relatively newly-qualified, but still very guilty of hanging on to clinical skills I learnt at university, when there are new ways of practice that I could be taking advantage of. But optometry is ever-changing, and the only way we can continue to give our patients the best and most up to date care is to adapt to these advances and make an effort to keep up with modern practice.”

Read Remlah’s You had me at hospital reflections in the October/November print edition, and online now.

Cat Cooper, optometrist-director at Specsavers Arbroath

Featured in: Day in the life of a business owner

Specsavers

“Extended clinical skills, for example independent prescribing, which is already being incorporated into the standard optometry degree [in some areas]. I think this is the right move and will support positive change in the profession.”

Read Cat’s Day in the life of a business owner reflections in the October/November print edition, and online soon.

Habeeb Rahman, pre-reg optometrist at James Bontoft Optometrist and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

Featured in: Pre-reg focus

Habeeb is smiling and is stood in front of an orange and green wall which is displaying a large number of spectacle frames

Mark Newton

“With the education and training requirements taking effect in UK optometry schools and Scotland integrating IP into optometry programmes for undergraduates, I believe there will be a shift towards optometrists becoming more involved in therapeutics.

“It’s an exciting time – being able to do more for patients and prescribe medications to manage a wider range of conditions will allow us, as optometrists, to provide more comprehensive care.”

Follow Habeeb’s Pre-reg focus journey in the October/November print edition, and online now.

Poonam Odedra, senior optometrist at Boots Opticians

Featured in: A conversation about...

Poonam Odedra

“If you have been to university and then come back to further education later, it takes a while to do the IP course. It’s a year at university, and then it’s your placement, then your exam. It can take up to two years to complete. Future optometrists who have had that incorporated into their degrees are going to come out with IP at the start of their careers. That’s the biggest, most important thing.”

Anna Warner, head of optometry at Gloucestershire Hospitals

Featured in: A conversation about...

Anna Warner

“Learning the real subtleties of spotting pathology, and moving slightly away from refraction.”

Read Poonam and Annas’ A conversation about... reflections in the October/November print edition, and online soon.

Comments (4)

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Anonymous27 October 2024

Quick sight tests and high conversion rates

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Anonymous

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John Gurney23 October 2024

Easy-extend it to 7 years - first 3 optometry covering refraction low vision,CL etc( those that exit here become entry level optometrists(Bsc).
For the others that wish they continue for another 4 years in medical community ophthalmology.
Students to exit after these extra 4 years with non medical Doctorate,Dip Glauc and IP qualified ,able to perform injections, minor surgery and ops and all forms of ophthalmic laser procedures. Thier training should include 18 month residency under glaucoma , med retinal,VR and acute emergency eye ophthalmology consultants and be signed off by all in terms of compitance to pass.
It took me 15 years off my own back with my own money and effort to atain to that level.

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Anonymous23 October 2024

IP should have been incorporated into Optometry Degrees years ago.

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Anonymous23 October 2024

Optometrists have been under utilized in the Health System for decades.
Should be upskilled in IP ,FB removal and shared care.
However, the NHS payment for providing these services are so poor.
Optometry Practices generally are not charging enough for their clinical service.
An Optometrist can help save somebody's vision but be the fee remuneration is often less than would be charged by an apprentice hairdresser.
Optometry had become high volume sight testing with conversion rate becoming the most important factor.

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We welcome your opinion and encourage readers to engage. In doing so, we remind you that this is a professional forum and ask that you are polite, refrain from using libellous or abusive language, and respect the views of others. If you would like to share feedback on this article with OT, please email the author by clicking here.
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