AOP announces new Council members

The AOP has announced its new designated Council members following an appointment process in March.

The designated Councillors represent a range of practice types and career stages to allow for a diverse range of voices to be heard at the Association.

Chief executive of the AOP, Henrietta Alderman, said: “I’d like to warmly welcome our new and re-elected Councillors, who play a vital role in informing our policy making and helping to shape the future of the profession.”

“With exciting projects and opportunities ahead, we’re very much looking forward to working closely with our Councillors on the key issues facing optics. I would also like to offer my thanks to our current and departing Councillors for all their hard work during their terms,” she added.

This year, the AOP asked members to put themselves forward for six designated Council positions: undergraduate optometry student, pre-registration optometrist, newly-qualified optometrist, early career optometrist, dispensing optician and franchisee/joint venture partner.

These positions sit alongside the Council’s elected regional representatives and designated Councillors representing university lecturers and hospital optometrists, who are selected internally.

Councillors will begin their terms of office on 12 June. The undergraduate optometry student and the pre-registration representative will serve a one year term, while all other positions will serve three year terms.

Returning dispensing optician representative, James Dawson, who has already served one three-year term, said that he is looking forward to continuing to ensure that the voice of dispensing opticians is heard at Council.

“We are in a transition period where careful discussion and collaboration is needed for the industry as a whole, especially with potential General Optical Council-enforced changes to mode of practice and education,” he added.

The Councillors are:

• Luke McRoy-Jones, undergraduate optometry student
• Shoaib Ilyas, pre-reg optometrist
• Josie Evans, newly-qualified optometrist
• Sana Asif, early career optometrist
• James Dawson, dispensing optician
• Jonathan Bennett, franchisee/joint venture partner.

To contact Councillors, visit the AOP’s online community forums. For more information about the 2019 appointments and the role of Councillors, visit the AOP website.