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The article discusses the Association of Optometrists' vision of how optometry can play a bigger role in the future of public health. It mentions a new Strategy for Optometry document created by the Association of Optometrists (AOP) aimed at healthcare decision makers. It reveals that AOP highlighted the disparate nature of eye care provision in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England.

The article presents views of Doug Perkins, director of professional advancement, on need of optics to do in face of competition from online refraction technologies and mentions value of the relationship optics with National Health Service (NHS). Topics discussed include role of patient education with patients failing to attend appointments, papers on running clinical audit published by College of Optometrists and knowledge on patient retention.

The article presents the discussion on hundreds of eye care professionals gathered in the Midlands last month for the College of Optometrists' annual conference, Optometry Tomorrow. Topics include attending lectures and workshops covering everything from dry eye to mobile phone screening apps; and improving access to eye care in remote and low resource settings.

The article reports the launching by Optical Express of a modern clinic at the Birmingham City centre in Birmingham, England as of late September 2015. The clinic will offer such optometry and ophthalmic services like laser eye and lens replacement surgery. It also offers information on the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) 2015 Visionaries Conference to be held at the Royal College of Physicians in London, England on November 9, 2015.

This section offers news briefs on optometry. Pope Francis visited optometrist Alessandro Spieza of Ottica Spieza in Italy for an eye-exam. An inaugural advertising campaign to highlight the importance of visiting optometrists has been launched by the Optometry Northern Ireland (ONI) in connection with the National Eye Health Week 2015. A new training course has been published by Abdo College in Great Britain in behalf of Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (WCSM).

The article reports on the audit award received by the eye care scheme called Search Results Primary Eye-care Assessment and Referral Service (PEARS) from the Wolverhampton Local Optometric Committee (LOC) which was launched in September 2014. Topics discussed include the PEARS consultations delivered by Wolverhampton since September 2014, the treatment received by the people in the community, and the audit award received by secretary Peter Rockett.

The article offers news briefs related to optometry as of 2015. Topics discussed include the third practice to be opened by CrossEyes Eyewear & Optometry in Great Britain in August, the appointment of Stefano Pessina as chief executive officer (CEO) of multinational holding company Walgreens Boots Alliance, and the gold medal received by the Deep Lights tool of ophthalmic lenses maker Essilor at the Popai Awards 2015 held in Paris, France.

The article focuses on the national campaign Think Abour Your Eye (TAYE) of Essilor for increasing awareness about harmful effects on long-term eye health of being overexposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. Topics covered include the TAYE survey indicating that the average exposure of British consumers at 1 hour and 45 minutes a day is seven time more than the safe exposure limit. Also mentioned are information on irreversible vision changes due to UV exposure and precautions on eye protection.

The article discusses the highlights of the Niches for Riches two-day Independents Day networking event in 2015. Presented were exhibits for optical professionals, workshops and panel discussion of four optical practitioners including Alisdair Buchanan, Ruth Low and Jim Green. Common theme in the panel discussion was the restrictive test fees of the National Health Services (NHS) and difficulties for independents in thriving under the constraints of the General Ophthalmic Services (GOS).

The article features the presentation of Alan Tinger of the chartered management institute regarding the Foresight Project during the general assembly of the 2015 European Council of Optometry and Optics (ECOO). Topics include the 12-month Foresight Project funded by the Optical Confederation and College of Optometrists and research phases including global technologies, education and regulation. Also mentioned are the political and real worlds of healthcare in Great Britain.

The author discusses the exit of independent optical practice from the failing system of the Government Ophthalmic Standards (GOS) and eye examination funded by the National Health Service (NHS). He agrees with the view of independents on the broken GOS that cannot provide a realistic framework for the industry. Also discussed are the new breed of independent practice in the industry that are offering new products, good eye care and great customer service.

The article offers information related to optometry. Topics discussed include the sponsorship agreement signed by optometrist Black & Lizars with Sport Aberdeen Radio station to promote the significance of good eye care, the National Optical Conference (NOC) of the Local Optical Committee Support Unit (LOCSU) to be held in Birmingham, England from November 5-6, 2015, and the appearance of Andy Hepworth of ophthalmic lenses producer Essilor on ITV Wales in July 2015.

A letter to the editor in response to the article "Debating the delivery of eye care," that was published in a previous issue of the journal is presented.

The article offers information on the continuing education and training (CET) exercise offered by the magazine "Optician," located on the website www.opticianonline.net. Topics include the importance of domiciliary eye care checkup in diagnosing major eye diseases such as cataract, glaucoma, and macular degeneration, advantages of domiciliary eye care for households, and ways on how to arrange for a domiciliary eye care check for elderly.

The article attempts to improve the practice of optometrists using the Frisby stereotest. It suggests the need of optometrists to routinely check for binocular single vision (BSV). It recommends to help optometrists decide if and when to use the Frisby stereotest. It also discusses some issues of general relevance when using stereotests.

The article offers tips how to build relationship with patients in the optometry practice. Topics discussed include the use of the tone of voice and body language in which staff could easily make patients feels like they are, assessing the needs of patients, and the use of storytelling as a tool that could relate the heritage of the brand.

The article discusses the white paper "The General Ophthalmic Services (GOS)," which examines the aspects of GOS in England and Wales. Topics include the call for urgent review of the GOS claiming that optometrists only perform basic tests as compliance with the National Health Service (NHS) England, the warning of NHS to withdraw the fees that were inappropriately paid and actions to be taken by the NHS ahead of the May 2015 general election.

The article explains the impact of imaging on future medical assessment in eye care. It cites the concept of spectral pixel imaging which can be realised by means of hyperspectral imaging. It notes that complex recognition systems can also be developed where the spectrum collected at a particular pixel position is also a fusion of a range of spectral signatures.

The article focuses on a study by researcher Chris Davey of Leeds University, which found that most in need of eye care in Great Britain are keeping themselves away from optical practices due to the fear of being oversold spectacles. According to the study, negative impacting public eye health are caused by several factors including subsidization of professional care through spectacle sales.

The article presents a study and views of politicians and executives concerning celebration of the World Site Day on October 9, 2014. Topics include a study by the European Forum Against Blindness which revealed the economic costs of blindness in 11 European countries, the views of Scottish health secretary Alex Neil regarding the Scotland's eye care services, and the views of chairman of Optometry Scotland David Bonellie regarding eye health assessment in Scotland.

In the article, the author offers information on the Call to Action process introduced by the National Health Service of Great Britain for improving eye health and sight loss. Topics discussed include the action process increasing optimism in optical industry, the need of utilising community optometry skills that will reduce load of work in secondary care, and the ideas came up in the process not being implemented accordingly by the public health commissioners.