The new benefit is initially being piloted in an area of North West England called Ashton-under-Lyne, before being expanded to three more locations in July. The Government hopes to phase in Universal Credit nationwide up to 2017.

Clockwise from top right: Optical Confederation Chair Don Grocott starts proceedings after a buffet lunch; LOCSU’s Chair Alan Tinger (also of the FODO Board) answers a tricky question; the panel share a joke – from left to right are new ABDO President Peter Black, Alan Tinger, FODO Chair Jayne Rawlinson,  Don Grocott, new ACLM Chair Dr Cameron Hudson, and outgoing AOP Chair David Shannon; and FODO’s Chief Executive David Hewlett responding to a question from the floor (with, in foreground, FODO’s Helen Bowman and the Optical Confederation’s Ben Cook). The panel were pressed about the future of independent practice, refracting DOs, retail pressures, low GOS fees and the new commissioning arrangements in England.

Clockwise, from top: The NEHW presentation was led by Francesca Marchetti and Rachel Robson; Francesca talks with Chair of FODO Scotland and Honorary Treasurer to the Board Hal Rollason and FODO Scotland Secretary Sheila Briggs; and Francesca and Rachel discussing their plans to strengthen the branding of NEHW and letting the audience know how their practice(s) can get involved.

David gave some of his secrets away about how to get the most out of contact lens supply. He used ACLM figures to show an average contact lens wearer in the UK spends £135 a year – his average wearer spends £210 in the same period. 

FODO Chair Jayne Rawlinson was voted in at this week’s AGM for a record fifth successive year. She was joined by new Vice Chair Glenn Tomison, who leads for FODO on individual membership, and four new Board members.  You can read more about the new FODO Board Members here.

Four new directors were elected to the FODO Board at this week’s AGM, Jayne Rawlinson was re-elected as Chair for a record fifth year, and Lead Director for Individual Practitioner Members, Glenn Tomison, was appointed Vice Chair.

The four new directors joining the Board are

Jayne Rawlinson said:  “Over the past two years we have been actively planning for the future. We changed our articles of association in 2011 so that any practice, company or individual providing eye health services in the community in the UK or Republic of Ireland can join and benefit from membership and our unrivalled professional indemnity and legal defence schemes.   We have invested in additional staff and added to the Board with a cadre of new directors who will be able to lead FODO, and the sector, in the future and play a full part in the Optical Confederation.”

David Hewlett, FODO’s Chief Executive, said:  “In many ways FODO is unique within the Optical Confederation in that the ‘FODO family’ is very wide and encompasses all parts of the sector and we reflect this at Board level.”  

You can read up about the new Board members by reading the press release here.

FODO will once again be joining Optical Confederation partners the AOP and the ACLM, with support from ABDO and FMO colleagues, for their annual shared AGMs event next Tuesday 14 May 2013.

The afternoon’s events, featuring in the FODO AGM at 4 pm, will include a special ‘Optical Confederation Brains Trust’  session plus presentations from the National Eye Health Week team and Optician’s Contact Lens Practitioner of the Year David Gould.

FODO will also be voting in new members to their Board and attending the joint Black Tie Dinner in the evening.

We like to keep our weather eye on the horizon, scanning for any upcoming challenges that might one day affect our members. We’ll be using LinkedIn to listen to our audiences, follow the news, and make connections with those in power.

As both a business- and clinically-focused organisation, and part of the Optical Confederation, FODO is proud to join the conversation on Linkedin.

FOLLOW FODO NOW

LinkedIn is the world’s largest social network for professionals in business, with over 225 million users. Joining the conversation online will put you directly in touch with over 4,000 Optometrists and Opticians around the UK alone, and a much larger group of eyecare professionals. You can find some useful resources for how to make the most out of LinkedIn in optics below.

Bodies
The General Optical Council
The College of Optometrists

Useful guides for getting started
http://img.constantcontact.com/docs/pdf/11-212-LinkedIn-Guide-Newbies.pdf
http://www.simplyzesty.com/social-media/ultimate-guide-linkedin/#

A key change for ophthalmic performers to note is the removal of the requirement to write letters to notify GPs with the results of a patient with diabetes or glaucoma’s NHS sight test.  As before, should such patients have a change in their clinical status which the GP should know about, they should be referred as normal to their GP, or directly to HES in the case of an emergency.

You can also read the full GOS Contract Application Forms on the Primary Care Commissioning website here.

FODO’s much-loved Vouchers at a Glance leaflet is hot off the press. Thanks to those that have already placed orders with us – we will be sending you your copies next week.

For those still interested in registering to have the leaflet sent by post, please email Giusy@fodo.com with your name, email address, postal address and how many you would like.

Since being voted to the Board this year to be a focus for FODO’s growing number of individual members I’ve been working to promote the interests of opticians and DOs who work alone or as locums.

This is the first of what I hope will become a regular series of blogs for FODO individual members – telling you what I have been up to on your behalf and seeking your views.

FODO welcomes members from across the optical sector – be they large multiples, SMEs, individual members or domiciliary providers – without this connection to the grassroots we wouldn’t fulfil our commitment to speak with our Optical Confederation partners for the entire optical sector.

Our members also act as front line reporters for us – raising issues and spotting upcoming challenges before they become major problems. If you have concerns about any issue or ideas about how we can serve our individual members more effectively please drop me a line on glenn@fodo.com.

Education, Education, Education

As a visiting lecturer at Manchester, and as the Joint Chair of the Optical Confederation Education Committee (alongside the AOP’s Alison McClune), I firstly want to wish all final year optometry and optical students cramming for their finals the best of luck in their exams and careers.

Optometry and optical students today face a very different set of challenges and market conditions than I did when entering the profession. Pressures on independent opticians are increasing as shopping patterns change - high street businesses around the country are facing great pressures as footfall continues to drop in many town centres. 

The effect of online retail is also very obvious to us in practice - particularly with hand held devices which patients use to find products you stock cheaper online (sometimes even whilst sat in front of you picking your brains).

I’m confident that the incoming generation of new optical professionals will be technically savvy enough to protect themselves from these kind of online dangers. This will include not just internet sales but also new platforms such as an increasingly digital workplace.

FODO Board Strategy Away Day

The Optical Confederation Leaders’ Group (ie the Presidents, Chairmen, CEOs and general secretaries of the ABDO, ACLM, AOP, FMO and FODO) is effectively the Board of the Optical Confederation. 

At its meeting in March the Leaders Group agreed to carry out some research about up-skilling optometry and optics and the FODO Board fully endorsed this at our Strategy Day at Optrafair on 12 April.   

ABDO and the AOP will also have important roles to play in this supported by leading-edge advances in technology – not least in contact lens technology.  This, to my mind explains very well why we all need to work together in planning and shaping the future as part of the Optical Confederation. 

Looking at the strategic objectives FODO set itself last April, 86% had been achieved and those that hadn’t were largely outside our control – not a bad outcome in a tough year.  You can now download our Annual Report online and members have also been invited this week to our joint AGMs event with the Optical Confederation partners the AOP.

Optrafair

My gut feeling was that Optrafair was every bit as busy this year as last time around, and it was encouraging to see the interest around the old Routemaster bus where companies’ could sign up for next year’s Optrafair London – they were like bees around a honeypot! Optrafair 2014 already looks to be a sell-out.  

It was good to welcome many optometrists and DOs to the FODO stand and to be able to discuss with them what we do for them, and the whole sector.  As always, FODO pens and memory sticks vanished like hotcakes. 

One of the things that never ceases to surprise me is how little practitioners know about FODO. The  amount of work that we do in terms of working with government and others for the good of the sector and the fact that we provide insurance cover for the vast majority of optometrists and DOs in the country through their employers for instance often comes as a surprise to them, as indeed does our success rate in winning cases! Let us know how best you think we can spread the word without bombarding you with too much bumpf!

I hope you find this first blog useful.  Please do let me have feedback and I will make sure your views are fed into the FODO Board strategy and policy making. 

With best wishes from the frontline, to the frontline.

Glenn. 

He met there with Plymouth’s with Dr Luisa Simo and Professor Steve Taylor (consultant to the School of Optometry project).  David said:  “We talk a lot these days about ‘hospitals without walls’ in eye care but this is indeed a “university without walls’." 

The Eye Clinic is only a few steps from the town centre.  200 patients have already visited, and the CEE aims to attract 2000 a year to support optometry students in their training and the Department in its research programmes.  David continued, “the facilities are state of the art and staff, students, patients and volunteers all clearly love it”.

“The clinic’s aim is to inspire the next generation of optometrists.  FODO, as part of the Optical Confederation, has been very proud to help bring that about.”   

Our Annual Report has been described as the ‘Optical Sector Policy Bible’ by some, and over the last month we’ve been busy compiling it in advance of our AGM in May.

We hope you enjoy reading about what we’ve been doing in your name…

We would also like to thank the FODO Board and our staff who gave up their weekends to help at Stand S52 and the FODO Fringe.

We also congratulate Optical Confederation partners the FMOP for once again organising an exciting event, and we look forward to 2014’s Optrafair in London.

Below you’ll find some of our highlights from the event. 

The first day at Optrafair saw the FODO stand manned by staff and Board Members Adrian Street (SME Members) and Glen Tomison (Individual Members). Both Adrian and Glen have written blogs about their experiences over the Optrafair weekend, with the first being released this Friday.

Saturday was also an opportunity for people to visit the FODO Fringe event on Contracts and Regulation, with top sector lawyers Judith Chrystie and Tom Rider, partners from Field Fisher Waterhouse.

Throughout Sunday we had Head of Claims Hannah Girling answering people’s insurance queries at the stand, and Giles Butler there in his joint role as Head of Member Services for Domiciliary, SME, and Republic of Ireland Members.

Sunday’s FODO Fringe focused on Defence and Liability, with experts Laura Smith and Gary Allison from Berryman’s Lace Mawer and FODO’s go-to clinical expert Dr Shaun King.

Our team had a brief opportunity for a breather on Monday, traditionally the least busy day at Optrafair. It was a great opportunity to network with partners in the Optical Confederation members organisations and with our friends in LOCSU and the charity sector.  

“Seeing the sophisticated services [Scrivens] provide the people of Rotherham was very impressive,” she continued. “Their early intervention work prevents costly NHS bills and, genuinely, saves sight!”

The visits help inform MPs about the importance of regular eye tests in preventing avoidable sight loss and the important public health role played by opticians in screening for other diseases, such as diabetes.  1.8 million people in the UK are living with sight loss and this could increase to nearly 4 million people by 2050.  

Senior Optometrist at the Rotherham branch, Robert King, explained that “an eye test is not just a check to see whether you need glasses or not, but is also a means of ensuring your eyes are healthy.”

“At Scrivens Opticians our eye tests can pick up other health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes so they are an important health check for everyone,” Robert continued. “Many eye conditions such as glaucoma are treatable and in many cases sight loss can be prevented if they are detected early enough.”

Scrivens is a family owned and run business with over 140 practices nationwide. For more information about previous Optical Confederation MP Practice Visits visit the website. If you’re interested in hosting your own MP visit you can get in touch with the Optical Confederation via your LOC.

Can I check that the new claims and payment systems for SMEs in England is working all right since 1 April?  There was a glitch with payments due on 15 April but everything seems to be working OK now, at least In Gloucestershire where I work. Please let FODO know if the payments are not working where you are.

One of the privileges of being on the FODO Board is the opportunity to meet up with the other Board Members to hear how the sector is in their area. We met up in advance of Optrafair this year for our annual Strategy Away Day to agree our priorities for the coming year.

I was particularly concerned that SME members might become over-burdened by any new legislation that arises from the implementation of the Francis Report’s recommendations and the Law Commission review of regulation (which might now be brought forward in response).  We all sign up of course to putting patients first – this si what we already do in our  retail system and to being open and honest – our Codes on Conduct already require this. My fear is that over-enthusiasm could l result in increased red tape and paperwork getting in the way of seeing patients and adding to costs which force even more practices out of business.

We’re putting in place a strategy to work with our Optical Confederation and wider sector partners to avoid such inappropriate over-regulation. Whilst we all support anything that might help prevent another catalogue of neglect as at the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust (and that was certainly not the first),  we are aware that the optical sector operates in a very different sphere of risk from our colleagues in medicine and hospitals – and this needs to be recognised.

I was at the FODO Stand for much of Saturday, and it was great to meet with SME members and find out how FODO can continue to support them.

My own parent company Norville also had a good stand, with lots of activity. I work for F Norville Ltd, one of the businesses owned by thew Norville family (not to be confused with frame manufacturers the Frank Norville Group).

It was great to see FODO Chair Jayne Rawlinson discussing driving vision with our founder Frank Norville OBE and falling in love with a pair of sunglasses at the stall. Fashion and common sense!

It’s the personal touch at FODO that makes all the difference – we want members to feel they can pick up the phone and speak to us or just email whenever they need to (Frank and Jayne are  friends with everyone and are exceptional in this regard).

FODO already has very strong relationships with pharmacy and dentistry - some of our big members are as much pharmacy as eye health providers - but increasingly many of our members are also hearing providers.

There are very obvious parallels between hearing care and eye health and, with the advent of the Any Qualified Provider system in England, it is likely that NHS hearing in the community will grow rapidly over the next few years as services are re-designed in line with QIPP principles. 

We as opticians can have a lot to offer here and FODO will look over the coming year to build closer relationships with the hearing sector and the hearing care representative bodies. We  might also take on a stronger lobbying role for hearing with partners across the sector as sensory impairment is increasingly seen as a combined area of health needs assessment in the NHS. Please let me know your thoughts, as I think this could be a big area for growth in the SME Optical Sector over the coming years.

I do hope you find this first blog useful, please do not hesitate to get in touch about anything that I or FODO can help with.

Best,  
Adrian
Adrian@FODO.com     

Multiple Practice of the Year
Specsavers Opticians, Sutton-in-Ashfield

Optical Assistant Team of the Year
Boots Opticians, Bath Southgate

The picture shows the Specsavers team who, amazingly, were at the awards to pick up their third award in four years. They have previously won Family Optician of the Year (2010) and Optical Assistant Team of the Year (2011).

The British Contact Lens Association, the College of Optometrists and the Optical Confederation are aware that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has given Mid-Optic permission to distribute HUB Pharmaceuticals’ ophthalmic diagnostic strips, which include BioGlo Fluorescein Strips and Lissamine Green Ophthalmic Strips under a CE Mark while a full European review of this category of products takes place.

Although this means supplies will shortly be available, it remains unclear whether optometrists and contact lens opticians can lawfully use these products.

We understand that the GOC is urgently seeking to clarify the legal position and will issue a statement as soon as possible.

England

Wales

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Voucher Values from 1 April 2013 have yet to be announced.

The RNIB campaign sets out various self-testing procedures and warns the public to contact an eye health professional should they experience any number of reported symptoms. The organisation, the UK’s leading charity for blind and partially sighted people, claims that over 50% of this sight loss could be avoided if people had timely access to diagnosis, treatment and monitoring.

It’s started a national campaign to increase awareness of the problem, with special adverts across the country on the radio, in cinemas, and with videos online and in GP surgeries.

The Optical Confederation welcomes the RNIB’s campaign, but adds that many of the symptoms related to avoidable sight loss are impossible to detect by self-diagnosis alone. We urge all adults to have regular sight tests throughout their lives to protect their vision into old age.

The Optical Confederation – which works to support optometrists, dispensing opticians and optical businesses across the UK –also never forgets that at the heart of what we all do is the patient and protecting the eye health of the nation. We’re proud to support the RNIB in their campaign to tackle avoidable sight loss.

David Hewlett, speaking on behalf of the Optical Confederation, notes “We welcome any attempt to raise awareness of the risks of avoidable blindness such as the RNIB’s latest Spot the Signs campaign.  However, several eye conditions are symptomless and we would urge everyone over 40 to have regular sight tests as recommended by their optometrist and not wait for symptoms.  If they experience any symptoms whatsoever and Spot the Signs, we advise them to visit their optician immediately.”