Optician articles from December 2003

Optician archives from December 2003

Refractive surgery signs: RK and PRK.
December 5, 2003... Normal postoperative signs RK: Multiple radial scars extending from the limbus or peripheral cornea to the mid cornea, sparing the central cornea. These are over 90 per cent deep and vary in number from four to 16. There may be associated...

50 years young.(Robert Stanley Opticians)
December 5, 2003... When Walter Holland OBE and Donald Salmon started their practice they could not decide on a name. They settled for using their middle names to form Robert Stanley Opticians. Sam Dalton looks at what has changed since then Robert Stanley...

The Dry Eye ; A Practical Approach.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 5, 2003... Paul Murphy reviews The Dry Eye - A Practical Approach, by Sudi Patel and Kenny Blades, a book which aims to provide a practical approach to the diagnosis and management of dry-eye syndrome In recent years, there has been an increased...

Fitting soft contact lenses for presbyopia.
December 5, 2003... Jayne Schofield describes some of the skills which may help practitioners to maximise their success rate when fitting multifocal soft lenses and explains the need for effective patient management and methods of trouble-shooting visual problems...

Norville scoops prize.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... The Norville Group has won a coveted European Supply Chain Excellence Award, seeing off competition from 250 entrants including O2 Europe and British Airways. It was the first time the optical group had entered the awards, which are...

nemowrites.(Editorial)
December 5, 2003... Repeat performance It was with a growing sense of deja vu that I read the 'Close-up view of opticians' in the Consumers' Association magazine Which? The findings, some of which may admittedly be soundly based, have, like their...

Frank Dickinson ; An appreciation.
December 5, 2003... Twenty-five years ago on Christmas Day 1978 one of the few British contact lens pioneers died. Tim Bowden takes look back at his life and work In 1980, Dollond & Aitchison opened the Frank Dickinson Suite in the Department of Optometry at...

History and innovation.
December 5, 2003... This year, Bausch & Lomb is celebrating 150 years in optics. optician looks back at an impressive history When German immi-grant John Jacob Bausch opened a small shop selling spectacles in Roch-ester, New York, in November 1853, he started...

The Specialist Club.
December 5, 2003... optician attends the recent Ciba Specialist Club meeting in the Midlands and finds a rapidly expanding group venturing further into contact lens education The drive through well grazed meadow up to the impressive 18th century manor house...

Scrivens receives award.
December 5, 2003... u Scrivens has received an honorary Rotary award for its donation of more than [pounds sterling]1m worth of hearing and diagnostic equipment. The Paul Harris Fellowship award was presented to group director Mark Georgevic at an event at the...

Women's vision loss inspires global event.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... The first international conference on women and blindness has called for more educational programmes to help redress the gender gap of vision loss. In developed countries twice as many women as men are likely to lose their vision due to a...

NHS deception costs optom over [pounds sterling]150,000.
December 5, 2003... A Crown Court judge has ordered a fraudulent optometrist to pay over [pounds sterling]150,000 after he pleaded guilty to six charges of obtaining cash by deception from Liverpool Health Authority. John Walsby-Tickle, who is registered in...

OOs to hear update on prescribing rights.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... The body responsible for developing the competency framework which will govern prescribing rights for optometrists will be updating the profession on the issue at a meeting next week. The National Prescribing Centre (NPC) will provide...

Fight against fakery.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Spare a thought for frame manufacturers who not only face the possibility that their well-nourished designer brand may relocate to another manufacturer, but are now having to increase their fight against counterfeiters. The latest figures...

Retinopathy screening details to be debated.
December 5, 2003... The future of diabetic retinopathy screening by optometrists in Britain will be the focus of a major one-day conference next month. Optometrists are being encouraged to play a major role in the Government's national service framework for...

Specsavers in the mood to celebrate.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... More than 500 Specsavers staff and guests gathered in Birmingham's ICC at the weekend for the Specsavers Excellence in Eyecare Awards. Nine awards in a range of disciplines were presented to Specsavers practices and the audience was...

Online CET is highlight of website redesign.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Online CET, up-to-the-minute news reports, education, reader polls and all the latest jobs are just a few of the features of the revamped optician website www.optometryonline.net. Thousands of eye care professionals already log on to...

Iris recognition surgery arrives.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... optician understands optometrists will soon be involved in shared care schemes using state-of-the-art refractive surgery. News of the opportunity came as Britain's first three refractive patients to undergo laser vision correction with the...

Video guide to testing infants.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... An independent optometrist has helped out in a DOCET financed video to be sent to all practitioners. Hitchin optometrist Paul Adler was filmed examining infants in a educational video designed to show fellow practitioners how to examine...

Europe tackles rise in fake designer frames.
December 5, 2003... Practitioners need to be ever vigilant after latest figures from Europe provide a warning that designer frames now top the wish list for counterfeiters. The number of knock-off accessories - including frames, belts and bags - doubled last...

Cataract patients seek faster route to surgery.
December 5, 2003... Cataract patients who face long waits for surgery appear to be voting with their feet to get quicker treatment, the Department of Health has discovered. A pilot scheme established by the DoH to see whether ophthalmology patients - and...

Barnard joins The Institute.(Dr. Simon Barnard)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Dr Simon Barnard has joined The Institute of Optometry as director of ocular medicine. He will be responsible for the post-graduate ocular medicine education programme. Dr Barnard was a lecturer in clinical optometry from 1979 to 1999 and...

Reis-Buckler's dystrophy; (Honeycomb dystrophy, Thiel-Benke dystrophy).
December 12, 2003... Description The corneal dystrophies are a group of progressive, usually bilateral, inherited (although non-congenital) corneal disorders with a typical age of onset of symptoms. Reis-Buckler's dystrophy affects the anterior cornea with...

Finding the right balance.(staff management)
December 12, 2003... Sam Dalton travelled to Oakwood Eyecare Centre in Derby to find out how the practice addressed its staff morale problems by employing a life skills coach Staff training and morale can be an issue for many optical practices, but for Tom and...

Ectopia lentis with MoCo deficiency syndrome.(eye disease)(molybdenum cofactor)
December 12, 2003... Steve Johns looks at ectopia lentis associated with molybdenum cofactor (MoCo) deficiency syndrome Ectopia lentis or dislocated crystalline lens can be inherited or acquired. Inherited ectopia lentis can occur in a number of ways including...

Bullish in Birmingham.(optical industry)
December 12, 2003... Rarely can a shopping centre have received as much media attention as the re-opening of Birmingham's Bullring this September. One of the 140 shops that account for the equivalent of 26 football pitches of retail space is Dollond & Aitchison's...

The magnificent seven.(Waveney Eye Care)
December 12, 2003... The 2003 Eyecare Award for the Reception Team of the Year was won by Waveney Eye Care. Rory Brogan returns to Ballymena The prosperous, but sometimes deemed parsimonious Co Antrim town of Ballymena (nicknamed the City of the Seven Towers)...

Toppin's road to riches.(Archie Toppin )
December 12, 2003... Working less and earning more is something you would expect most people to aspire to. This is exactly the proposition being put forward by optometrist Archie Toppin at January's Eyecare 3000 Making money in retail optics is easy, says...

Pigment dispersion syndrome.(eye diseases)
December 12, 2003... Pigment dispersion syndrome is considerably more common than was once thought. Andrew Franklin discusses its diagnosis and management and relates how he discovered he was suffering from the complaint Pigment dispersion syndrome (PDS) is a...

Rodenstock unveils Trogamides.
December 12, 2003... u Rodenstock UK has launched an all-new complete spectacle collection called Trogamides, deriving from the name of the material. Trogamid is a high-tech material from the Polyamide family of plastics, with unique properties, which,...

moneowrites.
December 12, 2003... Tackling infection I hear that the Government is to appoint an infection control director in each NHS trust to cut out the number of incidents of infection. This set me thinking about the hygiene standards in our practices. It could be...

Recognising surgery's place.(laser eye surgery)
December 12, 2003... Nearly 12 months after his appearance on the infamous Watchdog television programme featuring laser eye surgery, Sheraz Daya remains unrepentant - the high street is not the right place for refractive surgery. He talks to David Challinor ...

Optometry Wales wins fee increase of 20%.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Optometry Wales, the profession's key representative body in the principality, met with Welsh Assembly health minister Jane Hutt last week. She was able to tell representatives that the Welsh Assembly government had agreed to a 20 per cent...

Optics left behind in paperless revolution.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... The Government has announced that every NHS patient will get an electronic patient record by the end of the decade, although the optical profession is no nearer to knowing of its future involvement. The announcement of the overhaul of the...

Standards expert joins College.(College of Optometrists appointed Anne Bishop)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... A new senior member of the College of Optometrists has been given the task of bringing examinations - including the new scheme for registration - CPD and professional standards together for the first time. The College has appointed Anne...

Zeal Optics rides into UK.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... A US sports eyewear brand established by two professional mountain bike racers is being brought to the UK. Zeal Optics has taken its first orders from UK practices and has appointed an agent to sign up more. Frozen UK, a Bristol-based...

NHS fee saga rumbles on.(National Health Service)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... As 2003 gives way to 2004, the profession faces the ignominy that the payment for this year's NHS sight test fee may not take place before the next financial year. The profession's representative body, the Optometric Fees Review Committee...

Low vision raised in the Commons.(low vision services, House of Commons)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Ahead of next year's launch of the National Eye Care Plan (see page 5), health minister Rosie Winterton has responded to questions on low vision services in the House of Commons. MP for Huddersfield Barry Sheerman asked last week what...

Eye Care Plan launch put off until the spring.(Department of Health's National Eye Care Plan)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Professional opposition from ophthalmology is rumoured to be endangering the full implementation of the Department of Health's National Eye Care Plan. The DoH has delayed the Plan's launch - originally scheduled for next month - to as late...

OOs involved in glaucoma study.(Optometrists)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Optometrists in west London are being encouraged to take part in a new study which will monitor the effect of a public health campaign on glaucoma referrals to a hospital. The study is part of Ealing, Hammersmith & Hounslow LOC's continued...

Optometrists urged to embrace laser surgery.
December 12, 2003... A pilot project aimed at helping optometrists work more closely with refractive clinics has been announced by Bausch & Lomb. The global eye care business has established the scheme with the Centre for Sight, the refractive clinic which...

ASA orders Accuvision to change advert.(Advertising Standards Authority)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Accuvision has been ordered by the Advertising Standards Authority to amend its advertisements after a complaint from a rival laser surgery provider was upheld by the watchdog. The Centre for Sight in East Grinstead, West Sussex, objected...

Retention cyst and lymphangiectasia; (Conjunctival inclusion cyst).
December 19, 2003... DESCRIPTION A translucent 'bubble' in the conjunctiva may arise for two reasons: A cyst within the conjunctiva, filled with fluid. This is termed a retention (or inclusion) cyst A local dilation of the fine thin-walled...

How green is your practice?
December 19, 2003... Antonia Chitty looks at green issues affecting opticians including recycling, saving energy and recommending the most environmentally friendly contact lenses The environmental agenda may not be as embedded in the nation's psyche as it was...

Anterior vitreous assessment.
December 19, 2003... In primary care optometric practice, it is common to find patients with flashing lights or changing floaters as a presenting symptom. Deacon Harle discusses the assessment of their anterior vitreous, to help decide which patients need urgent...

Eye to the future.(McElholm Optometrists recognized by Royal Institute of British Architects)
December 19, 2003... Just months after picking up the optician Fashion Practice of the Year 2003 award, McElholm Optometrists of Downpatrick in Northern Ireland was recognised by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). White Ink Architects of Belfast...

Family values.(Colin Lee Opticians)
December 19, 2003... Samantha Dalton visited West-Midlands group Colin Lee Opticians to discover the secrets of its success after 25 years in practice A true 'family business' is the only way to describe Colin Lee Opticians. Dispensing optician Colin Lee and...

Launceston ladies leap.(achievements and awards in the eyewear industry)
December 19, 2003... u Members of staff from the Batemans Opticians practice in Launceston recently participated in a abseil to raise money for the Royal National Institute for the Blind. They descended the 200-ft 13-storey Civic Centre in Plymouth. Manager Gillian...

All set for an exciting year.(new eyewear products set to launch)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... Even before this year's calendar has been pulled from the wall, dates are going into our forward planners for the coming 12 months. There is a positive buzz among many of the optical suppliers as they prepare to launch new products onto...

J&J promises more comfort with new lens.(Acuvue Advance from Johnson & Johnson)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... Johnson & Johnson has announced the first details of its Acuvue Advance contact lens following its launch in the US this month (News, December 12). The lens is expected to be available in the UK during the first quarter of 2004. The daily...

Prescribing rights will maximise expertise.(prescriber status for optometrists)
December 19, 2003... The chief executive of the National Prescribing Centre has told the profession that prescribing developments will help to maximise optometrists' potential expertise in the NHS. Speaking at a special 'Extending prescribing' General Optical...

Tribunal order to Specsavers.(Specsavers Optical Group)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... A preliminary hearing in front of an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal was postponed last week until February 6. The case, brought by Mervyn Slater of Finchley, against Basildon Visionplus, was heard last Friday at Stratford, East...

'Husband & wife' firms could face tax penalty.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... A specialist VAT adviser to the profession has warned that some practitioners will face shock tax and National Insurance rises on limited company profits. Marc Bennett, partner at London chartered accountants Alexander Edward Lee, said...

Optics 2003: new faces, laser inquiries and GOC rulings.(General Optical Council news)
December 19, 2003... January The Department of Health named cataract, glaucoma, low vision services and age-related macular degeneration as the four pathways in the National Eye Care Plan More than 300 delegates attended Eyecare 3000 in Scotland The Office of...

Awareness of AMD is poor.(age-related macular degeneration)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... Only 14 per cent of people in the UK are familiar with age-related macular degeneration, according to research published this week by the AMD Alliance. In the 11 countries surveyed, most people were unfamiliar with the condition. ...

Warming up for winter.(spectacles and contact lens sales)
December 19, 2003... Sales of higher-value spectacles were notable in November, helping to boost total practice turnover to its second highest result. Yearly growth of new contact lens fits remains positive November was a strong month in terms of practice...