Optician articles from August 2005

Optician archives from August 2005

Ice cold Alux in aluminium from Starck Eyes.
August 5, 2005... Limited edition frames from the latest Starck Eyes collection are the result of four years of research. Alux metal is described as the metal of the millennium for its lightweight design, which the company claims to be twice as light as...

Pachymetry - Part 1; Defining normal corneal thickness ; and normal IOP measures.(intraocular pressure)
August 5, 2005... Professor Michael Doughty and Sven Jonuscheit discuss ascertaining whether a cornea is 'thin' or 'thick' as part of routine screening for and management of patients with open-angle glaucoma. CET module1805 Overall perspective Research over...

A silicone hydrogel for daily, flexible and extended wear.
August 5, 2005... Hans Roth, Karl Amon, Peter Bruckmann, Stephan Degle, Peter Pilz, Karlveit Schmitt-Lieb, Seliger Uwe, Ute Thmmler and Helmer Schweizer describe the clinical performance of a recent addition to the contact lens market In recent years it...

A further review of intraocular lenses.(Vista Optics)
August 5, 2005... David Walker explains where he feels major development in intraocular lenses has taken place The recent article 'A brief review of intraocular lenses' (optician June 10, 2005 Vol 229) gave a good perspective of the development of some...

Visual recognition ; in contact lenses.(contact lenses usage and related diseases)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Part 1 - Silicone hydrogels Module C1471 1 How would you describe the appearance of Figure Q1 in your records? Blepharitis. Variations on this theme were accepted. It is obviously anterior and grade 3 (Efron). The collarettes seem well...

Part 2 - Dryness signs ; and symptons ; Module C1360.
August 5, 2005... 1 What is shown in Figure Q1? Anterior blepharitis and meibomian gland dysfunction (grade 2). The meibomian gland openings are clearly blocked or inspissated. 2 In what way might this influence the tear film? Inadequacy of the lipid...

Core subject 1 Communication skills.(for optometrists)
August 5, 2005... We continue our weekly look at the GOC core competencies by expanding our argument over the significance of good communication skills for accurate history and symptoms taking For the purposes of guiding the pre-registration optometrists...

Biting the hand that feeds?(Tesco PLC)
August 5, 2005... On the subject of CIBA Dailies and their supply by Tesco, I too find it hard to believe that even Tesco with its far smaller profit margin, is prepared to sell 30 pairs for the grand profit of [pounds sterling]1.46 (excluding P&P). We were...

20 jobs lost as Metzler enters administration.(Metzler International)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Metzler International (UK) Ltd has gone into administration with the loss of nearly 20 jobs, after its parent company, Moulin Global Eyecare, went into provisional liquidation earlier this month. One Metzler employee told optician that the...

ChromaGen defends name against misuse.(Cantor and Nissel Limited )(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... The owner of the ChromaGen trade name has issued a warning to the profession after it found optical outlets in the UK using the name without permission. The alert has come from Cantor & Nissel, the Northamptonshire-based business, which is one...

What plan are ; you on?(Practice Plan and EyePlan: services and marketing)
August 5, 2005... Independents are repeatedly being told to charge more realistic professional fees instead of lumping high margins on the products they sell. Emma White looks at the benefits of two patient loyalty schemes It is now one year since James...

GOC regulator reveals High Court definition.(General Optical Council (United Kingdom))
August 5, 2005... New revelations have been made of how optical practitioners' disciplinary cases could be referred to the High Court if the resultant outcome is viewed to be 'too lenient'. The details have emerged in a report by the two-year old supervisory...

Celebrations for Partridge family.(Jonathan Partridge Opticians )(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Jonathan Partridge Opticians of Welshpool, Powys has celebrated its 16th anniversary with two awards. The Investors in People award recognises businesses that 'consistently develop, train and empower individuals within an organisation to reach...

Scrivens hosts open day for Chernobyl children.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Optical and hearing care retailer Scrivens welcomed groups of children from Chernobyl into its Didcot, Driffield and Ringwood branches recently for free treatment. The children, aged between seven and 13, are sufferers of the after-effects of...

Norwich practice steps back in time.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... A Norwich practice turned back the clock to the 1940s to mark its 60th anniversary and to show customers how their eyes would have been cared for in the past. Coleman's Opticians kitted out a room with equipment dating back to the early part...

Relaxing in Kent.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Buchanan Optometrists in Snodland, Kent, is the first practice to showcase Carl Zeiss's new 'state-of-the-art' Relaxed Vision service. The company said the new technology gave improved vision through spectacles by taking measurements more...

Howes holds an Ortho K open evening.(Howes Opticians)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Howes Opticians in Royston, Hertfordshire held an open evening in conjunction with No 7 Contact Lenses so that patients could learn about the benefits of Ortho K lenses. Visitors had the opportunity to quiz people who are already using the...

Lindberg Junior comes in a special package.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Danish company Lindberg has developed its Lindberg Junior collection with frames 'in an abundance of shapes, colours and sizes'. The company points out that the children's frames look good without dominating the face and thanks to the...

Multiple counts cost of retail downturn.
August 5, 2005... It has emerged that Dollond & Aitchison's decision to make its 90 contact lens opticians redundant followed a weaker half-year performance by the multiple. De Rigo, the Italian parent of the UK opticians name, has released sales performances...

[pounds sterling]250m rip-off or silly season scoop?(disposable lenses)
August 5, 2005... optician takes a look behind the latest Daily Mail story accusing optics of ripping off patients Those who dismiss last week's Daily Mail report which accused the contact lens industry of conning patients as silly season chatter, be...

Judge's death puts test case in limbo.(murder case of optometrist Giles Van Colle)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... The death of a high ranking judge will mean the parents of murdered optometrist Giles Van Colle could wait months before the result of their High Court action is known. Irwin and Corinne Van Colle launched their test case against Hertfordshire...

Tribunal rejects DO's claim over dismissal.(Stratford Employment Tribuna, Colin Smith)
August 5, 2005... A dispensing optician from Essex who claimed he was wrongly sacked by Specsavers in the wake of a row over ownership of the store at Basildon where he was a director has failed in a bid for job-loss compensation. Stratford Employment Tribunal...

Staff to decide on CET payment.(Continuing Education and Training)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Boots Opticians has given its optometrists three options regarding collecting their [pounds sterling]270 Department of Health grant towards CET. The company is surveying its practitioners to see how they want their CET payment to be made. The...

Online CET opportunity.(Continuing Education and Training)(Association of British Dispensing Opticians )(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... ABDO members can now accrue additional CET points through a new online presentation 'Soft Contact Lens Solutions' at website www.abdo.org.uk. Paula Stevens, ABDO's CET officer, said: 'Soft contact lens solutions is the first of a series of...

Race focus.(influence of London bombings)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Since the July 7 London bombings, religious hate crimes, mostly against Muslims, have soared. If you have suffered racial intolerance from a patient or if your practice has been targeted, either since July 7 or previously, optician would like...

PCT insider predicts new era in eye care.(primary care trusts)
August 5, 2005... Practitioners must prepare to adapt, and adopt improved services as the Government prepares to devolve the national GOS budget to primary care trusts. This message followed last week's warnings by the professional bodies about the implications...

Profits drop at Black & Lizars.(earnings)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Scotland's Black & Lizars opticians group has posted profits down by 10 per cent for the year to September 30. In figures listed at Companies House last month the independent chain of 22 stores stated its pre-tax profits were [pounds...

Mehboob Suleman.(optician)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
August 5, 2005... The profession was mourning the death of a charitable practitioner this week. Mehboob Suleman, the Hertfordshire-based dispensing optician who devoted his much of time to the Lady Fatemah Charitable Trust, was killed in a car accident on the...

Dispensing subject 1 ; Communication skills.
August 12, 2005... We continue our weekly look at the GOC core competencies by expanding our argument over the significance of good communication skills for accurate history and symptoms taking So far we have concentrated on core subject 1 for the optometrist...

Polarisation and polarising lenses.
August 12, 2005... In this CET article on polarisation and polarising lenses, Andrew Keirl revisits the theory of polarisation and discusses some of the polarising products available (C1841) The term polarisation has two meanings. Firstly, it is used to...

Sporting challenge.(Optrafair)
August 12, 2005... As a result of the flurry of activity around the wrapped sports lenses available at Optrafair, optician embarked on a project Many of the lens companies at Optrafair were making a big play of their wrapped lens capabilities, but some...

Understanding ocular wavefront aberration - Part 2.
August 12, 2005... Professor Neil Charman concludes his discussion of wavefront aberration analysis with a few cautionary words. Equations and Tables from Part 1 (optician, July 8, page 24) are referred to The full sphero-cylindrical correction Having...

Prepare to profit from the London Olympics.
August 12, 2005... UK practitioners are already being urged to prepare to profit from the first Olympic Games to be staged here since 1948. Plans are under way to help professionals make the most of the business opportunities presented by 'London 2012' following...

Free stands from Dunelm Optical.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Dunelm Optical is providing free display stands to showcase any four frames bought from the Julian Beaumont Titanium range. The unisex collection comprises 23 styles including supras, rimless and full frames. The 3608 is described by Dunelm as...

Win a camcorder with Carl Zeiss.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Lens manufacturer Carl Zeiss has launched its summer scratch card competition giving customers the chance to win a host of prizes. Every pair of Zeiss lenses ordered comes with a scratch card and a chance to win prizes such as a Sony...

Mid-Optic plays DVD promotion.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Mid-Optic is running a prize draw in conjunction with lens cleaning manufacturer Calotherm with six DVD players up for grabs. To be entered, customers need to purchase four packs of Calotherm products as featured in Mid-Optic's July-September...

Fight for Sight holds sunglass sales.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Fight for Sight has held a series of sunglass sales over the past two months, raising [pounds sterling]4,500 for the charity. The sales were held at Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, CIBA Vision, PricewaterhouseCooper (pictured)...

VAO wants your children's frames.(Vision Aid Overseas )(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Vision Aid Overseas is appealing to opticians to provide children's frames and spherical lenses for its latest project in Ethiopia. VAO is supporting overseas partner Orbis Ethiopia in a large scale screening and refracting programme within...

Six-point plan to beat patient fraud in NHS.(National Health Service)
August 12, 2005... More work needs to be done to ensure only those who are eligible receive NHS eye tests or optical vouchers, says the Government's counter fraud service Fraud committed by patients impacts on optical services every bit as much as it does on...

Umpa lumpa! It's a chocolate factory.(Vickers Laboratories)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... A contact lens solution company had its work cut out when it had to create over a million litres of 'chocolate' for the Hollywood blockbuster Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Vickers Laboratories, which has also supplied fake blood for the...

Why trust PCTs?(primary care trusts)
August 12, 2005... Why the professional bodies are so keen for us to put our faith in PCTs I cannot imagine, now NHS work may be put out to the lowest tender (News, July 29). Dentists turned their backs on the NHS years ago, only a surfeit of optometrists...

B&L's boys triumph ; over CIBA.(Bausch and Lomb)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... The ninth annual Colin Hamilton Memorial Football Tournament was held at the Trojans Sports Ground near Eastleigh in Hampshire last month. The seven-a-side tournament was organised by Leightons Opticians in honour of the former manager of...

Green is for Guide Dogs.(green wrist bands for Blind Association)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Specsavers Opticians in Cardiff City Centre is selling green wrist bands in aid of The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. The plastic wrist bands feature puppy paw prints and the words 'paws for thought'. Costing [pounds sterling]1, all...

Battle of the cheapest?
August 12, 2005... Your professional future may be decided in the next few weeks. As reported last month, officials at the Department of Health are planning to devolve the national GOS budget to PCTs and local commissioning. Their plotting will gain few headlines...

LOCs can pay monthly for web.(local optometric committees)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... The business which offers local optometric committees ready-made websites, aimed at enhancing their communication skills, has announced that LOCs can now pay in monthly instalments when they join. Primary Health Net (PHN) was established six...

Bomb shocks practice.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... A Cambridge independent practice was vandalised last week when a homemade bomb posted through the letterbox exploded. A passer-by who saw smoke coming from the building alerted police and the fire brigade to the scene. Five families living...

optics treated to the ashes.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Leading figures from the retail optical profession gathered at Edgbaston last week to see the opening day's play in the memorable second Ashes test. As guests of Birmingham Optical Group they were treated to a sumptuous lunch and...

Phone radiation could pose threat to eyes.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Mobile phones could irrevocably damage the eye's lens according to Israeli researchers who examined the effect of prolonged radiation exposure on calves' eyes. Professor Levi Schechter and colleagues at the Israel Institute of Technology in...

Bombs did not stop ceremony.
August 12, 2005... Optometrist David Baddeley did not let the London bombings of July 7 prevent him attending the graduation ceremony for his Postgraduate Diploma in Ophthalmology. Baddeley, the only UK optometrist this year to attain the special qualification...

Tributes paid to director of Specsavers.(Obituary)
August 12, 2005... Colleagues of Mehboob Suleman, the Specsavers director who tragically died late last month, have paid tribute to his work and charitable efforts. The dispensing optician, who died along with his wife and one of their sons in a car accident in...

Pilots are at 'greater risk ; of cataracts'.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Airline pilots are three times more likely to develop nuclear cataracts compared with non-pilots, warn experts. The risk is associated with cumulative exposure to cosmic radiation, according to a new study in the journal Archives of...

Optical bodies unite to block GOS reform.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Optical bodies are preparing their case to put to NHS officials to avert government plans to place cash limits on the national GOS budget and devolve it to PCTs. The profession's representatives are so concerned they are already talking about...

VAO's delivery milestone.(Vision Aid Overseas)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Optical courier DX and Vision Aid Overseas celebrated the delivery of the 10 millionth pair of spectacles to the charity's headquarters by the optical courier this week. Since 1997 DX has been collecting used or unwanted spectacles donated by...

Alarm over risk of eye injury from detergent.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Liquid tablet forms of washing detergent pose a new household risk to children's eyesight, a correspondence letter in this week's issue of The Lancet has claimed. Clinicians at the Children's University Hospital, Dublin have called for new...

High street hit.(market conditions of Eyewear industry)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... The high street continues to suffer poor trading according to the British Retail Consortium's latest figures. Its Retail Sales Monitor claimed that July's trading for the UK's retailers was the worst in 10 years, with consumers remaining...

A 90-year tour of duty.(Flying Officer Stewart Harris's adventures in the Second World Ware and his life after)
August 19, 2005... This week marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Peter Hurcomb gives a dramatic account of the war-time experience of Stewart Harris and the rehabilitation he has received at St Dunstan's, the visual impairment charity...

A course in low vision practice.
August 19, 2005... Part 1 - Terminology, numbers and causes In the first of a new series based on the Welsh Low Vision Scheme training programme, Barbara Ryan and Tom Margrain look at the prevalence and nature of visually impairing disease. CET Module1813 ...

Aberration article is way too complex.
August 19, 2005... I would like to pass a few comments on the recent pair of articles 'Understanding wavefront aberration' by Professor Charman. It is clear that the Professor indeed understands wavefront aberration. Sadly I and I expect the majority of readers...

Cataract concerns are probed by Channel 4.(Government's efforts to cut NHS waiting lists by using private cataract surgery contractors has led to increase in rates)
August 19, 2005... Fresh concern that the Government's efforts to cut NHS waiting lists by using private cataract surgery contractors has led to increased complication rates were broadcast this week. Channel 4 News (August 15) questioned whether the safeguards of...

It 'asda be' aftercare.(ASDA Group PLC)
August 19, 2005... At the risk of further upsetting contact lens-fitting opticians, there is no let up on the pricing front, with Asda now throwing its weight behind online sales of the product. Under the cheesy headline of 'Online optical prices "Asda be" a...

Optometrist subject 2 ; Professional conduct.(General Optical Council's core subjects-professional conduct)
August 19, 2005... We continue our look at GOC core competencies by addressing the second of the core subjects which relates to professional conduct. As can be seen from the list below, the categories relating to optometry are quite broad and less specific than...

The mechanics ; of CET explained.(Disability Discrimination Act (DDA 1995))(CET scheme offered by Vantage Technologies Ltd.)
August 19, 2005... As a provider of CET I share RH Gray Morris's concerns (Letters, August 5, 2005) regarding internet-only access to the GOC CET scheme run by Vantage Technologies. However, he overestimates the problem because he is confused regarding the...

pre-reg party winners.
August 19, 2005... Our picture shows prize winners at the Institute of Optometry's annual summer party and presentation to pre-reg evening class students. Pictured (from left) are Avesh Chumroo, Bhavina Patel, Jennifer O'Gorman, Anand Shah, Priya Dabasia, Aiman...

More options from CIBA.(CIBA Vision introduced All Day Comfort)(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... CIBA Vision has launched its Focus Dailies Toric 'All Day Comfort' with sustained moisturiser release. This is a change to the new material as used in the Focus Dailies 'All Day Comfort' spheres. The parameters are +4.00D to -6.00D in 0.25...

Bevel-headed.(Richard Mewha,the designer behind Bevel eyewear talks about his career and work)(Biography)
August 19, 2005... Our series on British frame design continues with Richard Mewha, the New York-based designer behind Bevel eyewear. Clara Browning takes up the story Richard Mewha feels that the sale of spectacles should be a more personal experience,...

The gold standard.(Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers offers a course for optical technicians that offers a Level 3 Certificate along with SMC Tech status)
August 19, 2005... How can optics attract the technicians, laboratory supervisors and managers of the future? Here, the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (SMC) explains the benefits of its SMC Tech qualifications Attracting technicians into the...

Trs Jolie at a very pretty price.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Marchon has introduced 40 new frames aimed at consumers looking for 'quality, durable frames at affordable prices'. The collection is exclusively available to independent opticians with many styles retailing from [pounds sterling]69, said the...

Specialise with 7-Soft contact lenses.
August 19, 2005... 7-Soft is a range of specialist soft contact lenses from No7 available in spherical, aspheric and toric prescriptions. No7 has invested in a new manufacturing lab with automatic lathing technology and training to develop this range of products...

Max Mara offers limited edition style.
August 19, 2005... Large acetate Max Mara limited edition sunglasses are the latest offering from the Safilo group. The frames come in two colours - Havana brown and gold/crystal for the inner side and dark grey with tone-on-tone arms. They also feature a 'thin...

Gene therapy may offer hope.(research of Leber congenital amaurosis)(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Scientists have claimed that some forms of congenital blindness could be cured through gene therapy after they discovered a gene missing in infants born with the blinding disease Leber congenital amaurosis. According to the research team at the...

Level of grades would help student selection.(more demand by students for seats in optometry by students and unwillingness by the universities makes way for a new proposal to judge the capabilities of students)
August 19, 2005... Only a fraction of yesterday's successful A level students will achieve their aim of joining optometry courses this autumn. With the Government facing demands to toughen the qualification in the wake of record numbers once again achieving top...

20 years of overseas aid.(Vision Aid Overseas celebration )(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Vision Aid Overseas celebrated the 20th anniversary of the founding of the optical charity with a reunion dinner at the Burleigh Court Conference Centre. Displays of previous VAO photography - including members of the 1985 project team to...

Asda bullish over online sales but cheapest tag is sore point.(ASDA Group PLC)
August 19, 2005... Asda has waded into the online contact lens price war this week after a summer of preparation by the supermarket. It was expected that the Wal-Mart owned business would quickly follow Tesco's entry into the market (News, July 1). But when...

Hundreds struck off.(General Optical Council erases names of opticians after they fail to file insurance papers)(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Over 300 practitioners were struck off the Opticians Register this week en masse because they failed to return forms declaring that they are insured. The move is the first of its kind after the GOC became legally required to take action...

College to launch new information resource.(College of Optometrists)(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... The College of Optometrists will launch its new website on September 1, as part of its jubilee year celebrations. The relaunch, partly in response to members' feedback on the current site, will make www.college-optometrists.org more...

Shamir posts flat second quarter profits.
August 19, 2005... Shares in lens manufacturer Shamir Optical Industry dropped on Monday with the release of flat second-quarter net profits at $2.1m, blamed on lower than expected sales in the UK and the US. The unaudited figures showed a sales rise to $20.2m...

Shamir posts flat second quarter profits.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Shares in lens manufacturer Shamir Optical Industry dropped on Monday with the release of flat second-quarter net profits at $2.1m, blamed on lower than expected sales in the UK and the US. The unaudited figures showed a sales rise to $20.2m...

DoH aims to speed low vision referrals.(Department of Health)(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Thousands of patients are to gain quicker access to social care following Department of Health approval of changes to registering people as having vision impairment. The DoH announced this week that in response to consultation the Letter of...

Aspirin could help fight bug.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... The active ingredient in the humble aspirin could help reduce the risk of eye infections from contact lenses. Australian research claimed this week that the salicylic acid in aspirin can prevent bacterial growth on biopolymers. Mahesh Bandara,...

Notts' recruitment drive.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Efforts to attract health professionals to live and work in Nottinghamshire are to be boosted by a new DVD, claim the area's PCTs who have produced the disk. Boots Opticians and Vision Express both have their headquarters in the county, and...

Recipe call.(optometrist)(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... A Winchester optometrist is collecting the profession's favourite recipes to raise funds for the Gift of Sight Eye Research Centre in Southampton's General Hospital. Rachael Smith is compiling a Frazzled Mothers Cookbook and will include the...

Essilor welcomes their worships.(Brief Article)
August 26, 2005... Essilor recently received guests from the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (SMC) on a visit to its Thornbury manufacturing site. The formal visit by the master, wardens, deputy master and the clerk was in recognition of Essilor staff from...

Eye essentials 3.
August 26, 2005... Nystagmus Professor Bruce Evans describes the various clinical presentations of nystagmus and explains appropriate management where applicable (C1839) Nystagmus is a regular, repetitive, involuntary movement of the eyes whose...

Life in the slow lane.
August 26, 2005... July sees long-term declines continuing to slow. optician reports The trend reported last month is continuing into July. The decline in most benchmarks appears to be slowing down. Growth is still negative, but many show better figures than...