Make the most of additional services
Optometrists often share premises with audiologists, but what other businesses work well in tandem with optometry? Steve Smethurst shows how additional services can improve patient experience and make good business sense.
Darren Smith MCOptom is a partner in four Specsavers optometric practices across Herefordshire and south Shropshire. The largest, a city-centre practice in Hereford, contains nine consulting rooms, one of which is dedicated to audiology with a soundproof booth. “We have three smaller practices in rural towns, and the audiology team service those too.”
Audiology has been part of Specsavers’ offering for many years, originally using consulting rooms when they weren’t busy for optics. It’s a set-up common to many high streets. Of 869 UK Specsavers stores, 777 provide audiology, with a mix of full-time audiologists and clinics every day; others operate on fewer days with visiting audiologists. The way joint-venture partnership works at Specsavers is that each store is supported in terms of IT, finance, legal, HR and marketing.
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Related further reading
The College of Optometrists has responded to General Optical Council (GOC) consultation on draft guidance on the care of patients in vulnerable circumstances and maintaining appropriate sexual boundaries.
One in four over-50s has vision impairment and three quarters have some hearing loss.
The College of Optometrists has presented Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh with an Honorary Fellowship of the College in recognition of Her Royal Highness’s outstanding contribution to eye health.
