A remark, often attributed to Lenin, runs: “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” This has, with good reason, been much quoted in the last year, not least in relation to healthcare. 2020 was a year in which we witnessed rapid changes to the way eye care was delivered: virtual consultations, mass take-up of a needs-led approach to examinations and, of course, a completely new regime of infection prevention controls.

COVID-19 caused many an incredibly hard year, both professionally and personally. Clinicians and practice teams have worked tirelessly to keep practices safe and continue to deliver eye care throughout each phase of the pandemic, and this is a credit to our profession.

As our knowledge on safe practice grew, there were times where we needed daily updates to the guidance, and had weekly shifts in governments’ health policies. Now as we start 2021, we remain in the midst of a pandemic.