I would like to congratulate the successful nominees in this year’s ABDO Board elections – and very much look forward to working alongside them.
To those other members who showed a great willingness to become involved in taking the Association forwards, I simply say this: why not use this experience to look for other opportunities within ABDO and then try again next year.
We are now just days away from the second ABDO Clinical Conference at the ABDO National Resource Centre in Birmingham on 6 and 7 October. With its themes of paediatric dispensing, myopia management and acute eyecare for dispensing opticians, this promises to be a fantastic event – with great speakers and presenters and the complementary CPD webinars. We also look forward to catching up with all our sponsors, and are grateful for their support in bringing this event to members.
ABDO’s eagerly-awaited Professional Certificate in Paediatric Eyecare is due to open for bookings on 10 October, with many members having already registered their interest. I’m sure it will prove to be the enhanced standard that many members will aspire to achieve.
The date of 10 October also marks this year’s World Sight Day, highlighting the critical importance of prioritising children’s eye health and “giving children everywhere the opportunity to love their eyes”. Research shows that educational failure rates can be reduced by 44 per cent when children have access to prescribed spectacles.
At the end of this month comes Halloween and with it, unfortunately, the usual unscrupulous retailers offering plano coloured contact lenses without the need to consult an appropriate contact lens optician or optometrist. This is very risky, with eye infection, irritation and permanent eye damage all possible – so do use our EyecareFAQ resources to share eye health messages with your patients.
I look forward to meeting members at upcoming regional events and our conference in Birmingham.
If you would like to contact me direct, then please email kgutsell@abdo.org.uk