Optician articles from January 2005

Optician archives from January 2005

Emotional reunion of tsunami survivors.
January 7, 2005... A husband and wife practice team holidaying in one of the most devastated resorts in the tsunami catastrophe were emotionally reunited 24 hours after the disaster. Optometrist Alasdair Stewart and his wife Gill, a dispenser - who run Stewarts...

Marginal keratitis and Salzmann's corneal degeneration.
January 7, 2005... Kirit Patel presents three case studies - marginal keratitis associated with rosacea, blepharitis and Salzmann's corneal degeneration CASE 1 - ROSACEA A white, female patient, aged 42, rang on a Monday morning to say she had had a...

Market uncertainty.
January 7, 2005... NHS tests in November are at the highest level yet recorded by the Index, while total spectacles are down 22 per cent from November 2003 November is usually a buoyant month with all benchmarks doing well prior to December when, with...

New faces on ABDO board.(Association of British Dispensing Opticians-elections)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Dispensing opticians body ABDO has announced the names of the elected members of the new board that will meet later this month for the first time. A total of 1,295 ballot papers were returned out of an electorate of 4,875. The seven members...

Not just another charity.
January 7, 2005... Gemma Ortiz Genovese discusses the work of Optometry Giving Sight and explains why practitioners in the UK should get involved There are 37 million blind people in the world and a further 124 million classed as visually impaired. The real...

Time to take stock.
January 7, 2005... Bryony Pawinska provides an interim evaluation of the new pre-registration period six months into the pilot scheme As the new scheme develops apace - 581 trainees, each with their own supervisor, and 49 assessors - New Year is a good time...

Rodenstock hails its Club winners.(Burnett Hodd & Jenkins)
January 7, 2005... Burnett Hodd & Jenkins of Sidcup, Kent won Rodenstock's National Centre of Excellence platinum award at the 14th annual Rodenstock Club luncheon at London's Savoy last month. The practice won the overall title through best combined sales...

Review of the year in optics.
January 7, 2005... January Vision Express sets itself a target of 100 more joint venture outlets in the next five years A Wirral-based business, Spectacle Warehouse, wins thousands of pounds from a DTI scheme to develop a rimless spectacle frame French frame...

Study claims RGPs may slow childhood myopia.(rigid gas-permeable)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... New research from the US suggests that rigid gas-permeable contact lenses may help slow the progression of myopia in young children. At the end of a three-year study of more than 100 eight to 11-year-olds, US researchers determined that wearing...

Fellowship scheme proposed by BCLA.(British Contact Lens Association)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The council of the British Contact Lens Association is proposing a new fellowship honour which will be put to an extraordinary general meeting this month. Similar to the American Academy of Optometry's FAAO, the fellowship will be by an...

BBGR celebrates 30 years.
January 14, 2005... Lens manufacturer BBGR recently marked its 30th anniversary with a series of events for its 2,300 employees. An exchange programme called BBGR Explorer was set up by subsidiaries of the company from May to October and participants were...

Cataract and driving: Part 1.
January 14, 2005... optician/City University dissertation prize winner Jaspal Punia looks at the current vision standards for driving in the UK and their limitations. In a follow-up article he will suggest a more appropriate vision assessment than that currently...

The wild Animals.
January 14, 2005... Animal sunglasses are expected to be in great demand this spring, thanks to a higher profile for the sports lifestyle brand, according to Norville. The UK brand produces clothing and accessories for the surfing scene and is popular with a...

Moorfields celebrates with optometry reunion.(Moorfields Eye Hospital)(Brief Article)
January 14, 2005... Moorfields Eye Hospital is to celebrate its bicentenary with a special 'reunion day' for its optometry department. As well as a series of lectures, the March 17 event will include a special reunion dinner in the evening, as part of the...

Belfast Eyecare show now an annual event.
January 14, 2005... Northern Ireland is to get its own annual Eyecare 3000-style convention after organisers of last weekend's inaugural event in Belfast deemed it a success. The format, replicated from the Glasgow course and exhibition, ran at the Hilton Belfast...

Cataract surgery row sets tone for election.
January 14, 2005... In the run-up to the next general election the Government is using improved cataract operation figures to beat the drum on the contentious subject of the health service. A new Department of Health paper on delivering fast-track surgery to...

Registration demand causes uproar at AOP.
January 14, 2005... The AOP has urged its members not to complete this year's GOC registration documents. The call, which could seriously disrupt the 2005 renewal timetable, is an unhappy start to the year in the relationship between the Association and the...

NICE guidance flawed.
January 14, 2005... The author of a study cited by NICE in its guidance on the use of Lasik to treat refractive errors has said the information used was outdated and irrelevant. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence's findings were widely leaked (News,...

Integrated eye care.
January 21, 2005... Over the next four months, optician will be publishing a series of dedicated issues looking at the potential impact of the proposed eye care pathways on the future of the eye care professions. Irrelevant side issue or the start of proper...

Primary care trusts.
January 21, 2005... As part of our look at the eye care pathways currently under development, Geoff Roberson describes the structure and function of primary care trusts and how readers might be able to influence them During 2001 and 2002 a significant...

Serious about style.(eyewear firm Allison has big plans and new launches for the UK independent market in 2005)
January 21, 2005... As the producer of colourful eyewear from Missoni to the 'rock star' styles of John Richmond, Italian luxury firm Allison has big plans and new launches for the UK independent market in 2005 Chances are if you have travelled in and around...

Refracting the visually impaired patient.
January 21, 2005... In the first of four CET articles linked with our series concerning the proposed eye care pathways, Professor Jonathan Jackson and Dr James Wolffsohn describe how best to assess the visually impaired patient with an adapted eye examination (CET...

Community spirit.(Peter Frampton, owner of Aaron Optometrists, works with other primary care providers to improve patient care)
January 21, 2005... There was a time when good patient care meant spending half an hour with each patient and doing pressures and fields on everyone who walked through the door. But times change, as Alison Ewbank discovered when she visited Australian Peter...

Revolution in Wales?(pioneering approach to providing eye care to the visually impaired)
January 21, 2005... Barbara Ryan, Dr Tom Margrain and Professor John Wild describe the pioneering approach being adopted in Wales to provide eye care to the visually impaired In 2001 a review showed that one of the main problems with low vision services in...

The College view.(College of Optometrists' view on integrating eye care services)
January 21, 2005... As the pilot trials of local schemes for integrating eye care services develop, chief executive Bryony Pawinska explains the College of Optometrists' view on the proposals The NHS is changing - it has to make better use of its limited...

Glasses Direct to sell designer eyewear.(virtual dispensing debate; Simon Morelli cleared of professional misconduct)
January 21, 2005... Glasses Direct could begin selling designer frames and contact lenses within the year. That is the latest warning from its founder James Murray Wells amid a new round of media exposure for his online spectacles site. He hit the headlines last...

Seven shades for Ray-Ban opticals.
January 21, 2005... Ray-Ban has released its new spring/summer optical collection for 2005. Pictured below is the RB5042 - star of the Ray-Ban woman communication campaign for the season. The 'striking square frame' confidently interprets the latest fashion...

Sports brand aims for huge outlet growth.(Quiksilver; Global Vision 2005; intraocular lenses could lead to misty vision or excessive glare)
January 21, 2005... Cult surfing brand Quiksilver is aiming to dramatically increase the number of practices selling its eyewear in the UK over the next 12 months. It will expand by 250-300 outlets by using the label's big appeal among young people and promoting...

ABDO endorses GOC renewal declarations.(general optician council)(Association of British Dispensing Opticians)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2005... Dispensers' body ABDO has told its members to complete the latest GOC renewal documents, despite the reservations the AOP has for its optometrist members. ABDO's reaction follows last week's news that the AOP has advised its members not to...

OO and receptionist accused of murder.(attention deficit, impulsivity and hyperactivity disorder)(meshed briefs)
January 21, 2005... An optometrist accused with his receptionist of murdering his wife appeared in court last week, writes optician's court reporter. Narendra Tailor, 36, of Oadby, Leicester, and Manjinder Binning, 33, of Huggett Close, Leicester, are charged with...

Swings and roundabouts.(locum optometrists)
January 28, 2005... The work/lifestyle benefits of being a locum are obvious, but with daily rates remaining static and work becoming harder to find, the lure of a salaried position, albeit working for less, is beginning to entice even the most independent minded...

Christmas season brings little cheer.(growth of eye examinations)
January 28, 2005... Dispensing falls again with all lens types showing negative growth No surprises that December was a quiet month in terms of eye examinations and dispensing, but while turnover was down on November it was up slightly from 2004, as are new...

Tomorrow's practice.
January 28, 2005... Dr Frank Eperjesi reports from one of the major events on the optometric calendar, held by the American Academy of Optometry, in Tampa, Florida, last month The American Academy of Optometry met last month in Tampa, Florida for a four-day...

A new portable test chart unit ; The Optimed Vision Analysis System.
January 28, 2005... Bill Harvey tries out the latest vision testing unit to come onto the UK market The use of an electronic test chart is increasingly popular in practice and also in domiciliary settings. The limitations of a static chart are well known....

Chicken and Egg; A portable Electronic Field Screening System.
January 28, 2005... optician looks at a new software programme aimed at making accurate field assessment for screening a variety of conditions in a domiciliary environment a realistic expectation There are many excellent automated fields screeners and...

Optometrist struck off for forging documents.
January 28, 2005... An optometrist who forged NHS forms to improve his domiciliary returns was struck off the Register last week. Robert Matthew Thompson, 41, appeared before a GOC disciplinary hearing on January 21 following his conviction at Nottingham Crown...

DO pays penalty for testing optometrist.(dispensing optician)
January 28, 2005... A dispensing optician who illegally carried out an eye examination was struck off last week. The unnamed patient, who is an optometrist, gave written evidence to the January 21 hearing (see column). The decision to erase David Semmens' name...

J&J offers contact lens boost.(Johnson & Johnson)(Sinclair Optical Services)
January 28, 2005... Johnson & Johnson is improving the benefits provided through its Acuvue Centre of Excellence (ACE) programme in a bid to improve the business of participants. A suite of extra benefits has been added to boost sales and educate practitioners....

Profession in Scotland debates free eye tests.(Obituary)
January 28, 2005... Scotland's optical representative body met last week to discuss the implications of a new Scottish Executive Bill, which pledges 'free eye tests for all by 2007'. Optometry Scotland (OS) met last week in Glasgow to discuss the implications of...

Norville bridges gaps with clip-ons.(cip-on sunglasses)
January 28, 2005... Norville is promoting its polarised Shade Control as the answer to most clip-on needs. The 32-piece collection is presented in a case and fits almost every size and shape of frame thanks to the patented design. Norville said the product was a...