The Annual Report highlights how we have made our mark in 2021 and 2022. We showcase some of our achievements in key strategic areas such as good practice, education, policy and research. It was a busy year of activities at the College, from launching public awareness campaigns and organising our first in-person events following the pandemic, to responding to policy consultations.
A workforce fit for the future
How eye care is delivered in the UK is changing rapidly. Technology and innovation are transforming our profession and, as the population ages, more patients will require eye health services.
Leading the way for our members
This year, our activity has been focused on ensuring that optometrists are at the forefront of eye care provision as the sector evolves to meet the demands of changing demographics and new technology. Our work continues to provide our members with the support, guidance and resources they need to take on new and expanding roles.
We want optometrists to be at the heart of patient-centred eye care in the UK, making full use of their current skills, and developing new ones so they can play a central role in leading and delivering new models of care for their patients.
Over the past year, we have consistently represented and informed the profession, and supported our members in their professional journey.
A workforce fit for the future
How eye care is delivered in the UK is changing rapidly. Technology and innovation are transforming our profession and, as the population ages, more patients will require eye health services.
So much of what we have achieved this year highlights the aims of our Workforce Vision. This project sets out ambitious plans to shape the delivery of eye care services by our profession and build the evidence base needed to advocate on behalf of optometrists across the UK.
We are taking crucial steps in upskilling the workforce, providing our members with high-quality training, CPD and accredited post-registration higher qualifications to advance their practice. Our priority is to champion optometrists so that their skills and competences are better recognised and used to improve eye care.
As a trusted leader in professional formation and development, we are working with universities, the General Optical Council (GOC) and other key stakeholders to ensure future student optometrists benefit from fully-integrated partnerships between all stakeholders who contribute to their pre-registration journey. This includes delivering and overseeing work-based clinical placements under the new Education and Training Requirements (ETR).
This annual report testifies to all that we have achieved in the last year and highlights how this will provide the basis for the profession’s future direction.
Our role in equipping optometrists, and making sure their voices are heard and their interests represented, is vital in ensuring that future eye healthcare needs can be met.
A workforce fit for the future
How eye care is delivered in the UK is changing rapidly. Technology and innovation are transforming our profession and, as the population ages, more patients will require eye health services.
So much of what we have achieved this year highlights the aims of our Workforce Vision. This project sets out ambitious plans to shape the delivery of eye care services by our profession and build the evidence base needed to advocate on behalf of optometrists across the UK.
We are taking crucial steps in upskilling the workforce, providing our members with high-quality training, CPD and accredited post-registration higher qualifications to advance their practice. Our priority is to champion optometrists so that their skills and competences are better recognised and used to improve eye care.
As a trusted leader in professional formation and development, we are working with universities, the General Optical Council (GOC) and other key stakeholders to ensure future student optometrists benefit from fully-integrated partnerships between all stakeholders who contribute to their pre-registration journey. This includes delivering and overseeing work-based clinical placements under the new Education and Training Requirements (ETR).
This annual report testifies to all that we have achieved in the last year and highlights how this will provide the basis for the profession’s future direction.
Our role in equipping optometrists, and making sure their voices are heard and their interests represented, is vital in ensuring that future eye healthcare needs can be met.
Leading the way for our members
This year, our activity has been focused on ensuring that optometrists are at the forefront of eye care provision as the sector evolves to meet the demands of changing demographics and new technology. Our work continues to provide our members with the support, guidance and resources they need to take on new and expanding roles.
During the year, we provided a strong and clear voice for the profession and worked with key partners and decision makers to ensure that optometrists are at the heart of eye care provision. We delivered a comprehensive response to the GOC’s call to evidence on the Opticians Act – particularly calling for refraction and the eye health check to continue to be carried out by one individual. Other successful collaborations have secured cross-sector support for our Workforce Data Modelling project, as part of our Workforce Vision.
The College’s Clinical Management Guidelines (CMGs) are the essential references for the eye care providers, and we continue to ensure that they support our members through a changing landscape. This year, we improved the format of our highly-rated CMGs, and added 29 updates, with more in the pipeline. We also updated the myopia management evidence review and guidance.
Following the GOC’s extensive consultation across the sector, the new route to qualification for dispensing optics and optometry was published in March 2021. The College has taken the lead on the delivery of work-based placement experiences in optometry, under the name of ‘CLiP’.
Also this year, with our partners in SPOKE (Sector Partnership for Optical Knowledge and Education), we successfully delivered its first two projects, designed to support qualification providers with the roll-out of the GOC’s new education and training requirements.
During 2022, we were able to return to face-to-face events and I was delighted to be able to meet with many of our members at Optometry Tomorrow 2022 in Telford, and to welcome 600 new College members at the Diploma Ceremony in November.
The invaluable support we receive from our members ensures that, as the professional body for optometry, we can deliver the vision and leadership to advance the optometry profession for the future.
Thank you.
Leading the way for our members
This year, our activity has been focused on ensuring that optometrists are at the forefront of eye care provision as the sector evolves to meet the demands of changing demographics and new technology. Our work continues to provide our members with the support, guidance and resources they need to take on new and expanding roles.
During the year, we provided a strong and clear voice for the profession and worked with key partners and decision makers to ensure that optometrists are at the heart of eye care provision. We delivered a comprehensive response to the GOC’s call to evidence on the Opticians Act – particularly calling for refraction and the eye health check to continue to be carried out by one individual. Other successful collaborations have secured cross-sector support for our Workforce Data Modelling project, as part of our Workforce Vision.
The College’s Clinical Management Guidelines (CMGs) are the essential references for the eye care providers, and we continue to ensure that they support our members through a changing landscape. This year, we improved the format of our highly-rated CMGs, and added 29 updates, with more in the pipeline. We also updated the myopia management evidence review and guidance.
Following the GOC’s extensive consultation across the sector, the new route to qualification for dispensing optics and optometry was published in March 2021. The College has taken the lead on the delivery of work-based placement experiences in optometry, under the name of ‘CLiP’.
Also this year, with our partners in SPOKE (Sector Partnership for Optical Knowledge and Education), we successfully delivered its first two projects, designed to support qualification providers with the roll-out of the GOC’s new education and training requirements.
During 2022, we were able to return to face-to-face events and I was delighted to be able to meet with many of our members at Optometry Tomorrow 2022 in Telford, and to welcome 600 new College members at the Diploma Ceremony in November.
The invaluable support we receive from our members ensures that, as the professional body for optometry, we can deliver the vision and leadership to advance the optometry profession for the future.
Thank you.