01 August 2025
From Birmingham to Manchester, across to Somerset and back to London, over the past few months OT has travelled by railway across the network to bring you insight from a range of industry and education events. We have attended the BCLA conference and Independents Day, networked at the NHS Confederation Expo, and enjoyed a range of in-person interviews. Here is a snapshot of what we have been up to in the past 60 days.
1
A child’s story
Video
OT’s Laurence Derbyshire travelled to Somerset to meet two-year-old Penelope and her mother Verity Chancellor to hear about the toddler’s experiences after an optometrist noticed that she was myopic in one eye. Watch our video.
2
Stability in the Scottish workforce
The cover story video
OT’s Laurence Derbyshire and Selina Powell met Dr Helen Court over Teams to discuss her paper The community optometry workforce in Scotland: supporting sustainable eye care delivery, which was published in the Eye in January.
3
“The NHS is in a fight for its life”
Events
OT’s Lucy Miller caught the train to Manchester for this year’s two-day NHS Confederation Expo, which coincided with the publication of the Spending Review and saw MP Wes Streeting take to the stage and tell delegates: “There is no fix to the NHS problems that simply pours more money into a broken system. It’s only through the combination of investment and reform that we will succeed in getting the NHS back on its feet and making it fit for the future.” Read more.
4
NOC learnings
Events
OT’s Selina Powell attended the bi-annual National Optical Conference, organised by the Local Optical Committee Support Unit. During the event she got an insight into the hive of activities being driven forward by local optical committees across England, from a blood pressure pilot in Greater Manchester to an award-winning image sharing initiative in Gloucestershire. Read more.
5
Recognising carers
Events
OT’s Lucy Miller was at a London-based co-hosted Specsavers and Carers UK event that shone a light on the work of unpaid carers. During the event she spoke to Specsavers Home Visits retail director, Chris Smith, about why carers are vital to domiciliary eye care. Read more.
6
Conferences and contact lenses
Video
OT’s Laurence Derbyshire and Kimberley Young travelled to the ICC in Birmingham for this year’s BCLA conference. During the event they spoke to representatives from a suite of contact lens companies for the latest updates. Watch our videos.
7
Arming independents
Events
OT’s Kimberley Young attended this year’s Independents Day event, gaining insight into what it means to be an independent business in 2025, with lectures on topics ranging from leadership and customer experience to artificial intelligence, and the future of independent eyewear. Read more.
8
Devolved nations, CVI, and refracting children
Events
OT’s Kimberley Young gathered key takeaways from discussions at the AOP Council meeting on 4 June. Read more.
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