College responds to concerns raised by the profession

The College of Optometrists has revised wording on its public facing Look After Your Eyes website following concerns raised by practitioners.

The misleading sentence was noticed under its ‘About us’ section and read: “It is a membership organisation and the most qualified practising optometrists in the UK are members.”

When contacted by OT, the College acknowledged that the wording was misleading due to a typo and acknowledged that the information should have read: “It is a membership organisation and most qualified practising optometrists in the UK are members.”

Confirming that it would amend the wording, a spokesperson for the College told OT: “This is not a College message that we use at any time and we are now removing it from the website.”

The mishap coincided with the College’s announcement regarding a co-branding initiative that will see its patient materials made available in all Specsavers practices across the UK.

Also causing concern within the profession, the College has since apologised for the way that it announced the plans.

Acknowledging the reaction from College members following the announcement earlier this month, director of member services and communications at the College, Catherine Bithell, commented: “Some members have expressed concern about the principles of co-branding the College’s patient information series, as well as the stated involvement of one of the larger multiple groups. We have apologised for the way that the co-branding service was announced.”

Explaining the purpose of the initiative, Ms Bithell said: “The premise for co-branding the College’s patient materials is to make them available to all members, in every setting, and ensuring that more quality-assured information is available to the public, as well as delivering greater visibility for optometrists.”