ABDO launches 2022/26 Strategic Plan

Plan will guide the Association’s work for the next five years

Today (28 January 2022) sees the launch of ABDO’s new Strategic Plan, which will guide the Association’s work for the next five years. It will also provide a positive vision for the future.

As we know all too well after the last two years, uncertainty is a fact of life and it is difficult to predict how events will unfold. Through careful analysis and planning, however, we can ensure that our work on behalf of our members takes account of likely developments and seeks to capitalise on them. At the same time, we will need to respond to unforeseen developments and adjust the Strategic Plan if necessary.

Over the next five years, we know that members will continue to manage and recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Other trends will include continuing growth in the number of older people in the UK; increasing delivery of eyecare services in the community; continuing growth in childhood myopia and myopia management; the increasing use of technology in optical practices, such as optical coherence tomography and other diagnostic equipment; growing awareness of the need to operate sustainably; increased focus on promoting equality, diversity and inclusion; and reform of the regulatory framework that governs members’ work.

Five elements of purpose

Five elements of purpose

It is vital that ABDO continues to serve the needs of its members as the world changes. So in carrying out our role, we will ensure that all our work is linked to one of the following five elements of our purpose:

1. Supporting members: supporting members by providing services, products and benefits that recognise their diverse needs and interests.
2. Representing members: representing members to protect and promote their interests.
3. Promoting awareness: raising awareness of the roles which members carry out for the benefit of patients and the public.
4. Developing members: enabling members to develop their careers and highlighting opportunities for them to do so.
5. Advancing the profession: advancing the profession by developing opportunities for members to expand their roles, including the clinical services they provide, and commissioning, supporting and disseminating high quality research.

In summary, ABDO’s purpose is: “To support and represent members, promote awareness of their roles, enable their professional development and advance the profession as a whole.”

Beyond the here and now

The Strategic Plan also explains ABDO’s vision for the future.

By 2026, we want to have achieved the following:
• Advanced the profession by developing opportunities for all members to enhance their roles, including delivering clinical services and taking on responsibility for leadership and management;
• Implemented the GOC’s new education standards and outcomes and ensured that our registrable qualifications prepare students for future roles and protect patients and the public;
• Supported members in their careers, including by delivering our programme of continuing professional development and a range of flexible qualifications and accreditations to deliver clinical services;
• Developed the evidence base for the profession by commissioning, supporting and disseminating high-quality research;
• Continued to improve the range of services, products and benefits that we provide to members in order to meet their diverse needs;
• Improved how we communicate and collaborate with stakeholders and colleagues;
• Increased the understanding and recognition of members’ roles among the public and patients, healthcare professionals, employers, commissioners, and policy makers; and
• Ensured that our organisation is sustainable, including financially and environmentally, for the benefit of current and future members, and the world in which we all live.

Achieving our vision will depend on ABDO staff and board members having the following shared values that reflect our role as a membership organisation and our commitment to serving the needs of our members:
• We are passionately committed to our members, who are at the heart of everything we do
• We maintain high standards for our members and our own work
• We are proactive in adapting to changing circumstances
• We are driven by a sense of common purpose
• We respect each other and our different areas of expertise
• We work collaboratively with our colleagues and other organisation
• We are open and transparent about our work
• We strive to continuously improve what we do and how we work together

Our new Strategic Plan enables us to look forward to the future with confidence, with a sound understanding of how the world is changing, with a clear sense of purpose, with a positive vision of what we want to achieve, and with values that will enable us to be successful.

The Strategic Plan is available to download here.