Following discussions with Health Education England (HEE), ABDO has secured a grant to cover the costs of minor eye conditions services (MECS) training and qualifications for contact lens opticians (CLOs).
The grant, which covers the ABDO extended services course and Wales Optometry Postgraduate Training Centre (WOPEC) final examinations, is available both to new CLO applicants and CLOs who have already registered for the course but not completed and passed the final Objective Structured Clinical Examination. It is available for 200 CLO applicants.
ABDO’s clinical lead, Max Halford, said: “I am absolutely delighted that Health Education England has recognised the clinical value dispensing opticians can bring to patients in primary care, and has agreed to support 200 more CLOs to undertake the ABDO extended services course.
“Securing this funding on behalf of our members is a major step forward for ABDO and the addition of a research grant from HEE to the Association’s Research and Clinical Committee to look at how dispensing opticians support patients with acute eye conditions will allow us to look in detail at the scope of practice and engagement of dispensing opticians within eye health more broadly,” Max added. “And we are grateful for the funding WOPEC receives from LOCSU, the Local Optical Committee Support Unit, in order to maintain access to these on-line modules.”
Candidates who have already received WOPEC module codes from ABDO, can register their interest for the grant by emailing Max Halford at mhalford@abdo.org.uk
New candidates are advised to read the information on the ABDO website, which provides information on the registration process and FAQs on extended services training available to CLOs.