A PAC full of education

More than 2000 people from across the sector attended Specsavers’ annual Professional Advancement Conference (PAC) on Sunday (21 October).

Hosted at Birmingham’s ICC, the event was opened to optometry undergraduates for the first time and delegates included optometrists, dispensing opticians, contact lens opticians, audiologists and ophthalmologists.

During the one-day conference, CET-accredited education featured a range of interactive discussion workshops, with five Newmedica senior consultant ophthalmologists on hand to share their skills in cataract, glaucoma, medical retina, red eye, flashers and floaters, and optical coherence tomography (OCT).

For the first time at PAC, optical and audiology professionals were brought together to examine issues around consent and clinical cases involving multidisciplinary care for sight loss and hearing.

A specific programme was also designed for the 80 optometry undergraduates in attendance.

As the multiple continues its rollout of OCT devices in all practices, introductory sessions on the tool were held for dispensing opticians, advanced case studies were shared with optometrists and a supplier drop-in was hosted with Heidelberg Engineering and Birmingham Optical.

Opening the conference, director of professional advancement at Specsavers, Paul Morris, said PAC is “a unique event and, indeed, Specsavers is a unique business, where decisions are taken for the long term, not for short-term gain. It’s all about doing the best thing for patients, putting them at the centre of everything we do.

“At a time of unparalleled change in our sector we, with your help, are leading the agenda.”