Making the move: from practice ownership to locuming

Here, Lakhani tells OT why he made the decision to sell his practice – and the value he hopes that he can bring to his new role as the AOP’s locum Councillor.

Why did you want to make the switch from practice ownership to locuming? Is it something that you had been planning for a while?

I loved the journey I had as an independent practice owner. When I started, in 2000, there weren’t as many business coaches or organisations that could assist you, so I found my own way. I had a wonderful journey, and learned as I went along.

Then, slowly but surely, you get to a stage where you begin to run out of steam. They say it about the top sports managers: where you have basically done as much as you can.

There certainly wasn’t an overnight decision. Particularly in the last five years, business-wise, we were hitting records. We won five accolades in the space of four years. It was a great journey, but I realised that actually, I was putting myself under so much pressure to keep achieving and to keep going beyond what we had already done, that I had lost the balance between work and home. That’s where it came from, in terms of realising I needed to make a change.

I always had a plan in mind to exit the business in the next two to four years, but then an opportunity came to bring this forward, which I accepted.

When did you make the switch from practice ownership to locuming, and how are you finding it so far?

At the end of 2025. I owned my multi-award-winning independent practice, Hammond Opticians in Enfield, for over 25 years and it was an incredible journey that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, the transition to being a locum has been amazing. It has taken away many of the daily pressures of being a business owner and I feel in a much better space now.

What pressures did you feel as a business owner that have been alleviated now that you are a locum?

I was really fortunate that we had a great team working alongside me, and everything that we achieved was achieved as a team.

But it is really simple things, like not having to think about a text message that has arrived at 6.30am, and wonder who can’t make it in today. From a clinical perspective, if you’re booking two weeks in advance and you’re busy, and then someone cancels at the last minute, or doesn’t arrive, it is really frustrating. Those minor pressures are now no longer there.

What are the biggest differences between being self-employed as a practice owner and being self-employed as a locum, in your opinion?

Obviously, being a locum results in fewer things that you have to control, including payroll, HR, marketing, and regulation, and it doesn’t give access to a share of the profits of the practices you are working in. On the other hand, there is much less job security and obviously no work-related benefits.

Have you come across any surprises since you started locuming?

I’ve been surprised by how much better my mental wellbeing is now that the pressures of running a successful business are gone. It has also been deeply gratifying to me that my services have been in such high demand, and I now have a much more varied working week.

What variety do you now have in your week that you did not have as a business owner?

This is the biggest change for me. I feel very grateful that I’ve been given lots of opportunities. I do work in practice, two to three days a week, which is great. I still enjoy that interaction, and I don’t want to give up my work in myopia management.

I’m also now involved in training and development, particularly in myopia management, as well as in orthokeratology and dry eye. I’ve also recently been elected to the AOP Council, so I’m going to be involved in policy work there. I see this as an opportunity to give back something to the profession that has given me so many opportunities.

It has also freed me up, time-wise, to do some volunteering work. A couple of months ago, a colleague and I went to India, and did some volunteering work in rural Rajasthan, in a variety of schools. Realistically, even six months ago, I wouldn’t have taken that opportunity, because I would have felt the pressure of being in the business much more.

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How did you find the succession planning aspect of moving on from the practice?

Surprisingly comfortable. It’s not something you can prepare yourself for, when you haven’t had the experience before.

It’s not that I don’t miss the practice. I’m really proud of everything that we achieved, but I’m not in a position where I’m harking back to it. I look at this as the third stage of my career. There was the early stage, when I was finding my feet as an optometrist, and learning what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. Then, there was the big middle section, running the business.

Now, I feel great about the amount of variety in my professional life. As much as I love still seeing patients, I’ve always wanted the opportunity to pass on knowledge and help train fellow professionals and colleagues. I’d always done it with my team, but this gives me a new opportunity.

I see this as an opportunity to give back something to the profession that has given me so many opportunities

Your practice had a strong myopia management focus – have you been able to bring that expertise into your locum work?

Yes, absolutely. I continue to have the opportunity to manage a large cohort of myopic young people who are being successfully controlled with the either glasses, Day contacts or Night Lenses.

In what ways, if any, has your reputation in myopia management shaped your experience as a locum?

The people who generally want to engage my services are the people who recognise the skill set that I bring. Having been a practice owner, we had certain things we excelled at, and certain things that we engaged with from a business and a clinical perspective. When I was looking for clinical staff, I needed to always to make sure that they had similar interests and similar values, because if they didn’t, my patient base wouldn’t have wanted to see them.

Now that the positions are reversed, I’m seeking out practices who share my clinical background and interest, so that I can really elevate things. Where a practice is perhaps further behind in the journey of myopia management, I can maybe assist them in improving what they’re doing.

What I have learned, though, is that advice is not always welcome, even if it is well-meaning. It’s about managing that, to make sure business owners and clinicians know that I’m happy to offer advice, but I will only do so if they want me to. I don’t want to step on professional toes, or on a business owner’s toes.

I am always happy to offer help, advice or suggestions to anyone I meet in the line of my professional work. However, I’m mindful that not everyone wants or needs another opinion and I try and avoid pushing my knowledge on others unless they are receptive.

What were you most excited by at the thought of locuming?

Having more time again: the ability to go on holiday; the ability to go and do the volunteering. Being a business owner is varied, because obviously I did a lot of clinical work, but I also did HR, I did payroll, I did marketing, I did strategic thinking, I did regulations – all of that. Now, I’m in a lovely position, where the things I’m doing are things that really excite me, and have really energised me for what is effectively the last third of my career.

What advice would you give to others who are new to locuming?

Enjoy the experience. Whether you are starting your career in optometry, or are perhaps well-established, you can use this experience to understand how different business models can work within the regulatory and commercial framework.

What do you hope to achieve in your new role as the AOP’s locum Councillor?

I bring wide experience: I’ve got experience as a locum, a business owner, a team leader, a manager, and an owner. There’s a wide variety, so I think I can bring a lot of background information on different aspects within optometry.

I think the biggest thing is trying to encourage better wellbeing. One of the things I’ve tried to do in the past six months, with my transition to locuming, is focus more on my own wellbeing. Mental health and mental wellbeing are key structures, and I would really like to shape policy for the AOP to be more active in that, and to take away some of the stigma that perhaps persists. That’s not a professional problem; that’s a societal problem. But we can do what we can for the people who we look after.

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