Optical networking at Specsavers conference

The Professional Advancement Conference (PAC), which was hosted by Specsavers at the ICC, Birmingham on 8 October, welcomed over 2000 optical and audiology professionals, including 165 optometrists from outside of Specsavers.

Up to 21 CET points were made available across the day, covering all practitioner groups and competency requirements.

Clinical services director at Specsavers, Giles Edmonds, said: “This is the largest optics event of its kind in the UK, but actually what we’ve encouraged is individual interactions.”

“Whether that be exchanging best practice with colleagues, meeting suppliers, finding out more about enhanced services, learning about delivering domiciliary, or discussing how to develop yourself professionally,” he explained.

“The message has been ‘All the expertise is here under one roof, so come and chat.’ It has been fantastic to see that happening throughout the day,” Mr Edmonds added.

The programme included sessions focused on closing the gap between optometry and ophthalmology, as well as ocular surface disease and optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Specsavers is currently rolling out OCT across its UK practices, and its suppliers – Heidelberg Engineering and Nidek – provided hands-on experience at drop-in sessions throughout the day.

The multiple also partnered with the College of Optometrists, the British Contact Lens Association and the Royal National Institute of Blind People to deliver expertise on topics, such as dry eye management, contact lens fitting and binocular vision abnormalities in children.