Stephen Clark, known to many both professionally and personally as Steve, died in a hospice on 15 February 2025 aged 58. He was an optometrist from a family line of optical practitioners. His grandfather and two generations before him were ophthalmic opticians, with a successful practice in Bristol, trading as Dunscombes Opticians. It was, however, a stint of work experience in a more modern practice that encouraged Steve to enter the profession.
After finishing school in Bristol, he studied optometry at the University of Aston in Birmingham from 1985-1988. Steve spent his pre-registration year with Boots Opticians in Bath and then passed the College’s Professional Qualifying Exam (PQE) at the first attempt in 1989, taking that year’s prize in Case records. A career-long learner, he would go on to obtain the College’s higher qualifications in glaucoma, low vision and medical retina between 2016 and 2020 at Cardiff University. He was a strong advocate for these qualifications as allowing clinicians in his region to improve NHS care to patients. He was also successful in obtaining funding to support more than two hundred local colleagues to study for them.
His first job after qualifying was with the optical chain Melson Wingate Ltd in Midsomer Norton, Somerset. Steve then moved north for the same chain, practising briefly in Ilkeston, Derbyshire in 1995. He arrived in Leeds in 1996 to work for The Eye Clinic, part of a national chain that would later be acquired by Optical Express. Later on, he worked for a local independent practice, Brosgill and Procter, and then for Angela Campbell Opticians in Harrogate, part of a small chain that had been acquired by Brosgill and Procter in 1999. Both of those were high-end practices, but for over twenty years from 2004 he worked for The Outside Clinic, providing domiciliary services in private homes. During this time, in 2012, he was involved in the College’s PrOVIDe study on the impact of eye care services on people living with dementia. Steve was instrumental in involving Outside Clinic colleagues in the research and providing access to bespoke software that greatly informed the final report. He claimed he always found domiciliary work interesting because of the greater incidence of pathology and he published a paper in the College’s continuing education journal Optometry in Practice (Vol 20, 2019) comprising a retrospective analysis of electronic patient records for a cohort of patients who would have had difficulty in accessing high-street practices.
Steve was passionate about optometry and worked with people across the board to make a difference to individuals and wider communities. In 2017, he was responsible, together with fellow optometrist Caroline Clarke (no relation), for setting up the Vision Care for Homeless People (VCHP) clinic in St George’s Crypt in Leeds. He continued to work in that clinic for many years. Additionally, during these years, Stephen worked part-time for Specsavers in Harrogate and served as a Councillor of the Association of Optometrists (AOP). He was voted Optometrist of the Year in the 2018 AOP Awards which he found ‘humbling’ and commented that the most rewarding part of his role was ‘knowing you’ve delivered a great service’.
He was an Optical Adviser to NHS England in the North East & Yorkshire region from its formation in 2013, advising on General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) regulation. He was also a system leader focusing on system redesign, often encouraging organisations to see the benefits of using the existing optometric workforce. As Chair of the West Yorkshire Eye Health Network he focused on creating a more cohesive approach, with an emphasis, where possible, on keeping care in the community. In 2023 Steve was also appointed a non-executive director on the Board of the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians (FODO).
For The College of Optometrists, Steve had in the past been a pre-reg supervisor. In 2020, he represented the College on a Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning (CCEHC) Low Vision Assessment Working Group. At the time of his death, he was a serving member of the College Council in the Yorkshire and Humber region, having first been co-opted for one year in 2022 and then elected in 2023.
Poignantly, Steve’s career profile had only just featured in an article in the College journal Acuity (Winter 2025) in which he attributed his success to always pushing at slightly-open doors. His family will remember him as a wonderful husband and father but also an optometrist who never failed to offer help guidance and advice when asked. Outside of optometry he was a passionate runner, mountain biker (he once cycled from John O’Groats to Land’s End), dog lover and a music lover with a wide range of tastes.