Since I’ve opened Eyeye I have used 2 optometrists that I know and trust to provide cover when I’ve taken time off. We use them because we share values, they are thorough and our patients like them. Not surprisingly, because they are good, they don’t have much availability.

Like many businesses in the first 3 years I have not been off much but aspire to take a bit more leave in the future. So, I need to widen my pool, but I don’t believe going to a locum agency is the answer.

Why? Well, there are some great locum opticians, but there are some who I would not want working in my business and others who I would not want working in anyone’s business.

In some respects it should be easy to find an optometrist as the way we work avoids some of the key issues fellow professionals find working in many opticians. The main dissatisfactions optometrists have elsewhere are: 1. That they don’t have long enough appointments; 2. They are under pressure to “convert” eye tests into sales and up-sell additional products and services. Here we have 45 minutes with a patient (versus industry standard of 20-25 minutes) and up-front pricing with no up-selling.

The dominance of the 20-25 minute (fully booked, running late) diary, day in day out, means that some optometrists don’t know it does not have to be like that. Specsavers are so big that their way of doing things is the dominant one, but don’t kid yourselves that this means it is multiple bad and independent good. When I locumed I went to some independents that I flat out refused to go to again because of their attitude, poor equipment and over-filled diary.

Attitude is everything in this kind of work and when I am teaching under-graduate optometrists you see good and bad signs even in the early weeks of their path to qualification. In the past I have worked in optom development and observed lots of eye tests. The best optoms were always the ones who wanted to be watched and get feedback, yet many did everything possible to avoid being watched!

We want someone who is interested in our aim to do optics better. This is based on the New Economic Forum’s 5 ways to wellbeing, which are:

We take notice; We connect; Always learning; We’re Active; We give (see our website for more on each of these https://www.eyeyesheffield.co.uk/the-story-of-better

If you are in optics please feel free to share this and we’ll see who get in touch.

8 things you should expect at your eye test

1. The optometrist takes time to listen to and understand why you’ve come for an eye examination and what issues you are having with your vision in everyday life. This should include them getting a clear picture of the visual demands of your life at work, rest and play.

2. Before or during your appointment you should expect to have the pressure in your eyes measured, a visual field assessment, pictures and measurements of your existing prescriptions.

3. You should be guided through the findings of the health checks carried out. This should, at the least, include being shown pictures of the back of your eye (and ideally front too) with explanation of which bits are healthy, any areas of concern and advice about maintaining eye health.

4. The optometrist should check your vision with your existing specs (if worn) and then do tests to look at how the eyes work together at different distances and looking in different directions.

5. After the bit when the optometrist determines your optimal prescription (ideally with a modern automated device in front of your eyes – instead of the really dated, uncomfortable little frames) you should be told whether your prescription has changed and by how much.

6. You should understand what your glasses are correcting and whether you are myopic (short-sighted), hyperopic (long-sighted), astigmatic and/or presbyopic – and the implications of each of these conditions.

7. You should have all the visual correction options explained to you (specs and/or contact lenses), so you can make an informed decision with the optometrist about which ones suit the different visual requirements of your life.

8. You should be handed on to the optometrist’s colleague with a brief summary of your requirements and a choice of whether you want to look at specs or not. You should definitely be supplied with a copy of your prescription – it is the law.

And 2 things you should not expect

1. Being in and out of the room in 15-20 minutes. you can’t do the above properly in that amount of time.

2. The optometrist up-selling of lens coatings, more expensive varifocals and hearing tests.

We are pleased to be able to part of the Festival of Debate for a second year. Last year we looked at NHS privatisation and the lessons we can learn form 30 years of teeth and eye care out of the NHS.

This year following on from that we are looking at whether being ethical and profitable are mutually exclusive. We say we are ethical and significant number of our customers come to us for that reason. It may be they wanted recycled frames, a longer eye test or up-front/transparent pricing.

We have been linking up with other local businesses who put ethics at the centre of what they do and talking to them suggests that the values of the business owners are key – they talk about feeling comfortable about how they do business – what we talk about is good value and good values. They also talk about transparency and consistency.

If this sounds interesting to you then come and join the debate on 23/5/19 – Grab a drink form neighbours Brewdog and have your say.

Tickets are free and available here https://events.ticketsforgood.co.uk/events/1156-festival-of-debate-can-ethical-be-profitable