News
Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year
Optometry Scotland would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!
Optometry Scotland Dinner
Optometry Scotland hosted a dinner after the SOC 2008, all OS council and SCO members attended. It was an informal evening, where Gillian Syme, chairman of Optometry Scotland, thanked everyone who had contributed to the SOC 2008, there was a special mention to Topcon 
who sponsored the dinner.
Nicola Sturgeon's speech at SOC 2008
Nicola Sturgeon MSP and Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing, was a speaker at this year's Scottish Optometric Conference. Ms Sturgeon's speech and other details about the SOC are available on the Classified section here.
Photos from SOC 2008 are available in our News Gallery section here.
Secretary for Health & Wellbeing to attend SOC 2008
Optometry Scotland is happy to announce that Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing, Nicola Sturgeon MSP will be attending the Scottish Optometric Conference on Sunday 23rd November 2008. For more details about the SOC 2008 visit the Classified section here.
Barry Duncan appointed President of ABDO
Optometry Scotland would like to congratulate Barry Duncan on his recent appointment as the new President of ABDO.
The ABDO held its annual conference in Manchester over the weekend where Barry Duncan was installed as the new President. Barry, who sits on the Optometry Scotland Executive Committee, becomes the youngest ever President of ABDO. He takes over from Kevin Milsom and will serve a term of two years. Barry qualified as a Dispensing Optician in 1999 and currently works for Erskine Opticians in Dunblane.
Commenting on his new post he said: "This is a particularly exciting time for ABDO and myself. We continue to face difficulties, however, with optics changing dramatically in Scotland over the past few years, we are optimistic that change can happen and with the help of Optometry Scotland I believe Dispensing Opticians will be recognised formally
with the Scottish Government once again".
Gillian Syme is the new Chairman of Optometry Scotland
Gillian has been involved with Optometry Scotland since its inception and has spent the last two years as Vice Chairman. Since qualifying in 1983 she has had experience of optometry in varied settings which have included positions as a hospital Optometrist, a locum and employment with multiples and independent practices.
For the past 13 years Gill has been a Director of Specsavers in Irvine and feels she is well placed to relate to grass roots Optometrists on the street, which Gill believes is vital to further development in Scotland.
£1 million training grant - NES
Optometry Scotland met with NES, the organisation that will be responsible for overseeing our training plans. NES are keen to set up a 'professional advisory committee'. The committee will be headed up by a soon to be employed Optom (watch out for adverts in optometric press and this website), a member of the government and their Optometric Advisor.
The aim is to kickstart training in the very near future e.g. training on red eyes, volk, slit-lamp and interpretation of fields etc. Looking to the future, a 3-5 year training plan will be produced. Watch this space!
Scottish Optometric Conference (SOC) 2008
The SOC will be held in the Glasgow Radisson Hotel on 23 November 2008. This will be a training based day with Optometry Scotland having a Question and Answer session throughout the day. Lorna Cameron will be releasing further details on the Conference in due course.
Camera Funding
As you will be aware Optometry Scotland negotiated another equipment grant for each practice, details of this were announced at the SOC in December 2007. The funds for the equipment grant have now been allocated to your Health Boards to distribute to you locally, upon evidence of your proof of purchase.
The grant that has been allocated to us for the purchase of a fundus camera, pachymeter and gonio lens is a capital grant which means that you need to own the equipment you are being reimbursed the cost of. Please contact your local Health Board for further details or Debbie McGill at the OS office.
Locums
We are compiling a list of locums for each area in Scotland. If you are a locum and would like to be a member of Optometry Scotland then we would ask you to donate £5 per month and your name will be added to the OS Locum List for Scotland. Registration is required to be on this list and Debbie will check an individuals certificates of training, insurances and listing etc.
Optometry Scotland is keen to work toward a full list of employable locums within Scotland. Locums can then enjoy the benefits of being an OS member. Please contact Debbie at the office on 0141 202 0610 for further details.
News Archive
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