In Other News

Collaborative Eye Care Award winners. At 100% Optical last week, The New Optometrist announced the Community Ophthalmic Link (COL) as the winner of this year’s Collaborative Eye Care Award (CECA). A joint project between Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Gloucestershire Hospital Eye Services (HES), the Local Optical Committee (LOC), and Blueworks Ophthalmic Imaging Management Solutions, the initiative connects all community optometrists to the ophthalmology records of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NHSFT), allowing real-time access to all imaging data – including full volumetric OCT and visual fields – along with clinical outcomes.

Updated College of Optometrists guidance. The College of Optometrists has updated its Clinical Governance Guidance to provide members with “a robust framework that aligns with the healthcare landscape and primary care optometry workplace practices of today – and into the future.” The Guidance is centred around four key themes: safety culture and systems, insight, involvement, and improvement. Link

Spectacular progress. Optometrist and entrepreneur Ahmed Ejaz has opened a new branch of his Cambridge Spectacles Co in Hornsey, London. Ejaz, whose other stores are in Birmingham and Cheltenham, founded his company in 2021 with the aim of designing and manufacturing glasses frames. Link

GOC appointments. The General Optical Council (GOC) has re-appointed Lisa Gerson to its Council as registrant member for a further four-year term. The Council also appointed Ros Levenson, an independent researcher, evaluator, and policy consultant, and Poonam Sharma, currently the Lead Optometry Adviser for NHS England, as new lay and registrant members, respectively. Link

Don’t drop eye health during Ramadan. In partnership with the British Islamic Medical Association and the Muslim Council of Britain, Glaucoma UK has launched its annual information campaign urging Muslims living with glaucoma to make eye drops a part of their routine throughout Ramadan (February 28 to March 30). The campaign emphasizes that stopping the eye drops even for a short period of time can lead to irreversible sight loss. According to most Islamic scholars, using eye drops does not break the fast, Glaucoma UK reports. Further information and campaign materials for sharing on digital platforms or for printing and displaying are available here.