Domiciliary Optometry – A Professionally Rewarding Career

Domiciliary Optometry is a fast growing market with huge potential.

As the population ages, the number of people requiring eye care services in the community is rising. This presents Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians with exciting new opportunities to move into a sector that is still at a relatively early stage of development, but which is going from strength to strength. With the above trends in mind, it is no surprise that Specsavers Healthcall has seen incredible growth in the last 4 years and the interest in domiciliary services continues to grow in the eye care professional community.  

A Varied Role That Offers Daily Professional Challenges

Alongside the size and scope of the market, we are finding that key motivators for Optometrists and Dispensing Optometrists to consider Domiciliary are the daily professional and ethical challenges that provide variety, making this branch of the profession immensely rewarding for both Optometrists and Dispensers. Every day you have the opportunity to make, deliver and witness a difference that can significantly improve the lives of your customers by tailoring the eye test and dispensing the best optical outcome for the customer. 

If you have ever wanted to spend more time with your customers for example, a domiciliary eye-test in a customer’s home typically lasts as long as you require. This will ensure a good clinical outcome that you are completely happy with and a real opportunity to make a difference. 

This leads to a much more informal and relaxed setting than a test room. It also presents challenges of its own due to occasional communication issues or needing to set up equipment in differing environments - it is never boring nor could be classed as routine.

This approach enables you to then deliver solutions that can truly improve your customers quality of life.   

Chance To See A Range Of Pathology On A Daily Basis And To Improve Customer's Quality of Life

As you are working with an aging demographic, you also get an opportunity to see an interesting range of pathology on a daily basis. A typical example of this is Low Vision. Many Optometrists and DOs get limited exposure to this within a store environment. Within domiciliary, you will see this much more often and have the opportunity to offer advice on magnifiers and aids, diversifying your knowledge and experience.  
 
Alan Myers (Mc Optom) one of our Domiciliary Optometry Partners informs us that the three main pathologies he sees on a day-to-day basis are: cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration:  
 
"With cataracts, often an update to the customer's glasses prescription can be helpful especially if the customer has not had an eye test for a number of years, which is not uncommon. So this is a simple thing, but can be very important to the customer as new glasses can greatly improve their quality of life which is very rewarding. 
 
In terms of glaucoma, as it can be a relatively symptom-free eye disease in the early stages detection is vital as some customers could potentially lose their sight down the line, without realising there may well be a course of treatment to effectively manage the condition.

For those with macular degeneration, seeing the customer in their own home can be very important as we can advise them best on the optimum lighting to use and assist them on magnifiers etc, so again making a real and practical difference to their quality of life 

With all three of the above pathologies, if referral to ophthalmology is indicated then we can arrange that. We can stipulate on the referral if the patient would need assistance on getting to any appointment, which would generally be the case (as in an ambulance or hospital transport would be necessary). So basically we try and make it as easy as possible for the customer and ease any worries or fears they have.

Alongside this, other typical conditions are: diabetic eye disease, external eye conditions involving the lids and lashes and retinal vascular disease."   

So, if you are looking for a role that challenges you on a daily basis, whilst enabling you to have a potentially life-changing impact on your customers, why not consider domiciliary?

Due to our ambitious plans to develop our Healthcall business, we have a range of opportunities available in various locations.

If you are also interested in running your own business, Specsavers offer a unique opportunity to combine this professionally rewarding career, with the possibility to be your own boss and set your own schedule.

Since 2013, we have rolled out our Joint Venture Partnership model nationwide, so that great value, home visit eyecare is available to customers across the UK. Specsavers has over 100 liveried cars delivering the domiciliary service to over 120,000 customers annually. The Joint Venture Partnership model has proven to be very successful, taking the sector by storm – and now you can have a part of this success story. We are currently offering Optometrists, Dispensers and Managers and experienced Optical Advisors the chance to develop their own business through our unique Joint Venture Partnership structure.   
 
Register your interest in domiciliary opportunities and book a confidential 1:1 meeting by contacting Laura Davey, Executive Recruitment Manager on 07796 705 273 or laura.davey@specsavers.com