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The Review
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bonellie opticians
yo u are one of the lon g e st e sta b l ish e d
b u si nes ses in s te wa rton. w h at’ s th e h istory ?
In 1977 we opened a house practice at 1 Graham
Terrace which was adjacent to the old doctors
surgery at the top of Avenue Street. Two years
later we moved to 5 Main Street and then in 1981
the larger premises at 20 Main Street became
available and we have been here ever since.
yo u mu st have se e n big c h a n g e s in e y eca r e
d uri ng yo u r time in p r actice ?
Enormous! Although the process of becoming
an Optician has changed little – a four year
degree course followed by a pre-registration year
then final qualifying exams – the functions that
we now carry out far exceed what we were able
to do in the seventies due mainly to advances in
equipment technology. We now have shared care
schemes for cataract and for diabetic eye care
which are now routine, and work is ongoing to
develop further use of our skills in conjunction
with the hospital eyecare services.
yo u hav e in ve s te d he avily in state of th e a rt
equi pmen t. ha s it be e n worth it?
Definitely! Eight years ago we were one of the
first practices in Ayrshire to install a retinal
camera which is about to be upgraded and this in
one piece of kit a modern practice could not live
without. We have also bought a top of the range
visual field analyser to very accurately diagnose
and monitor glaucoma. The jewel in the crown
however is in our Irvine practice due to space
requirements. There we have our OCT – optical
coherence tomographer – which basically carries
out an MRI type scan of the retina and other
parts of the inside of the eye. It is particularly
useful in detecting macular changes long before
they would become evident in a conventional eye
test. We have already had many of our Stewarton
and Largs patients travelling to Irvine to have
the scan carried out as it really does take the eye
examination to a different level.
Competition is a good
thing as it stops you
being complacent
th e r e is a lot o f co m p e t i t i o n a b o u t n ow. h av e
you be e n affect ed ?
Competition is a good thing as it stops you being
complacent. Our profession has a good spread
of both independent and multiple practices
which gives clients plenty of choice. Our clients
have been very loyal over the years and when
asked most say they choose an independent for
personal service and continuity of staff. We have
one family within our practice where we are now
looking after the eyecare of five generations!
you we r e r ecen t ly a p p oi n t ed ch a i r m a n o f
optom e t ry s cot l a n d . wh at d o es t h at i n vo lv e?
Optometry Scotland (O.S.) represents our
profession, both ophthalmic & dispensing,
and involves negotiating with government
ministers, senior civil servants and Health Board
management on fees, contracts and professional
standards. OS was responsible in 2006 for the
re- instatement of the NHS eye examination for
everyone in Scotland, and the Scottish eyecare
service is now widely regarded as the best in
Europe.
f in a l ly. h ow wo u l d yo u co m pa r e s t e wa rto n
n ow to wh en yo u fi r s t ca m e h er e?
The town has grown in size a lot but this has
brought with it a vibrancy and a great sense of
community as well as a thriving business sector
– you don’t see many empty shops compared to
some other places. Communications both road
and rail are now vastly improved and all in all a
great town to live and work in.