DOs qualify through rigorous and comprehensive training that equips them with the skills to dispense and fit spectacles and much more besides. The Level 6 Diploma in Ophthalmic Dispensing – available via both degree-level apprenticeship and traditional routes – provides graduates with a range of skills. These include an advanced understanding of ophthalmic lenses, measurement, fitting and adaptation principles for a range of different frame applications, low vision care, eye health and clinical communication skills.

By qualification, DOs possess significant expertise in:

• advising on the fit and supply of spectacle frames and lenses most appropriate for each patient’s visual, lifestyle and vocational needs
• complex ophthalmic lens solutions
• low vision support and assistive devices
• paediatric dispensing
• ocular anatomy
• common eye conditions, acute eye care and patient referral
• patient communication and clinical decision-making

This foundation is only the beginning. Many DOs continue to broaden their scope of practice through advanced qualifications. The ABDO Level 6 Contact Lens Diploma allows DOs to qualify as CLOs and join the General Optical Council (GOC) Contact Lens Specialty register. This enables them to carry out contact lens fitting, aftercare, and anterior eye assessment – including the diagnosis and management of conditions such as dry eye. 

Further advancement through the Extended Services CLO (ESCLO) route allows practitioners to support urgent and anterior eye clinics as part of community schemes, such as Community Urgent Eyecare Services (CUES) in England.

Other specialist pathways offered by ABDO include the Level 6 Diploma in the Assessment and Management of Low Vision, the Level 7 Certificate in Paediatric Eyecare, and the Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Contact Lens Practice. These higher-level programmes equip DOs to contribute meaningfully in specialist environments such as low vision clinics, paediatric services, community urgent services and secondary care specialist hospital departments.

Alongside formal qualifications, DOs benefit from ABDO’s extensive continuing professional development (CPD) programme, covering myopia management, dry eye, sports vision, driving standards, clinical triage, communication, management and leadership and more. Peer review sessions – both online and in person – and clinical conferences create a valuable space for reflective practice and case-based learning.

This combination of foundational training, postgraduate progression and continual development makes DOs highly skilled clinicians with a broad understanding of patient needs.

In practice, the strengths of optometrists and DOs blend to create a seamless and highly efficient patient care pathway. Optometrists focus on assessing refractive outcomes alongside ocular health, detecting pathology, managing clinical conditions and – with the registrable qualification in independent prescribing – provide additional therapeutic treatments. 

DOs specialise in translating refractive outcomes and clinical findings into practical, personalised visual solutions; providing advanced dispensing advice; managing complex prescriptions; and supporting patients with low vision or special visual needs. Further training for DOs, leading to qualification and registration as a CLO, enables the fitting and management of contact lenses and anterior eye care.

In many practices, this collaboration goes far beyond the journey from traditional eye examination to dispensing. The growth of CUES in England has shown how closely and effectively the two professions can work. Qualified DOs, for example, are increasingly involved in triage and referral for acute eye presentations, while ESCLOs manage patients with anterior eye conditions, working alongside optometrists to ensure timely and appropriate management.

Internal cross-referral between colleagues ensures patients are directed to the most appropriate clinician, based on skills and scope of practice. This optimises efficiency, enhances patient experience, and allows both professions to work at the top of their licence.

With UK health services moving towards more care being delivered closer to home – shifting clinical activity into primary care settings to relieve pressure on hospitals – this complementary working model is both timely and essential. It demonstrates what can be achieved when outcomes, governance and referral pathways align: safe, responsive, patient-centred care delivered in familiar high-street settings.

DOs are highly trained, regulated clinicians who contribute essential expertise to the UK’s eye care workforce. They meet the same professional standards as optometrists, share the same duty to refer, and offer specialist skills that enhance patient care across a wide range of settings.

Most importantly, DOs and optometrists work best together. Their complementary roles strengthen capacity, improve patient outcomes and ensure that primary eye care remains accessible, safe and future-focused.