NES Optometry hosts 10th annual conference

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Optometry hosted its 10^th annual conference at Hampden Park Football Stadium in Glasgow last month (27 October).

The event welcomed over 250 attendees including optometrists, orthoptists, dispensing opticians and ophthalmologists, as well as representatives from the Scottish Government.

During the morning session, consultant ophthalmic surgeon from Moorfields Eye Hospital, Professor Gus Gazzard, discussed the Laser in Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension trial.

The afternoon’s keynote presentation was made by Queen’s University Belfast’s Professor Augusto Azuara-Blanco, who spoke about the use of low dose atropine as a way to manage childhood myopia.

Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University, Niall Strang, provided a synopsis of the Scottish Clinical Optometry Network e-research project in which a Scottish dataset of retinal images could be used to identify eye disease earlier, improve clinical outcomes and potentially uncover biomarkers predictive of ocular and systemic co-morbidities.

Workshop sessions covered binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy, the impact of new technology on patients and practitioners, and an overview of mindfulness.