General Chat

How can performance related pay be relevant to a health care professional? Should s/he not aspire to achieve clinical excellence regardless, and shouldn't customers have the right to expect a high degree of clinical excellence as a bare minimum?

How can the % of patients who have seen the optometrist and then have surgery possibly be the best guide to performance. In a sample of patients where there is a high percentage with pre existing eye problems and contra indicators for surgery, an optometrist who is actually exercising a duty of care and doing their job properly will have a low % conversion. A high conversion rate suggests exactly the opposite and there lies the conflict between targets and the well being of patients. An optometrist cannot be a target based salesperson!

With the following required "skills" it is certainly an eye opener (!!) clearly illustrating how the company operates and the pressure staff must be under to keep their jobs, also explaining why so many patients are complaining of problems!

"Have a strong commercial acumen, be able to work to targets"

"Excellent sales & influencing skills"

"Be able to Prioritise and follow a sales process"

I thought an optometrist was there to examine my eyes not sell me a product!

I wonder if to 'Prioritise' therefore means to sell the most expensive treatment to the patient?

Does this company have no ethics at all?
:sick:

My 'counsellor' was Vicky Franks and my optometrist was Tom Critchley. They certainly worked as a team (one of the attributes required in the job advert) to persuade me to sign up, conveniently ignoring my concerns about my dry eyes!

Ad from the OE website.

Resident Optometrist - Chester

We are currently looking to recruit a resident Laser Optometrist based in our Chester store. As one of our resident Optometrists your key responsibilities will be to carry out Post Operative patient assessments, contact lens fits and standard eye examinations. You will be expected to create sales opportunities and deliver challenging but attainable targets with the highest standard of professionalism, quality and service. You will be required to advise and promote the benefits of Glasses, Contact Lens, Laser Vision Correction and IOL Surgery services to our patients with all the information they need to make an informed decision on the best type of treatment available for them including the costs involved. You will work well within a team and build an excellent working relationship with the Laser Vision Specialist in the stores.
Our Optometrist induction programme and the ongoing product training are designed to give you the key skills and technical ability to successfully deliver exceptional patient care and operational best practice in the role.

Minimum Requirements:
Ideally, the successful candidate will be an engaging and ambitious individual who has a strong desire to succeed, someone who is highly proactive and dynamic, and who takes personal responsibility for each and every patient. You will have a strong commercial acumen, be able to work to targets and be self motivated with a desire to continuously improve knowledge."

The ideal candidate will hold the following skills:
Customer focussed
Articulate with excellent communication skills
Confident and tenacious
Excellent sales & influencing skills
Flexible/and open to change
Able to Prioritise and follow a sales process

Note also:
• challenging but attainable targets
• have a strong commercial acumen... be able to work to targets
• Skills required include:
• Excellent sale and influencing skills

Why should an optometrist need influencing skils"?

A consent form is not worth a damn if there has been negligence. Negligence does not mean just at the surgical procedure but also pre and postop. So non-identification of pre-existing conditions that lead to an adverse outcome can be considered negligent.

Corporations are one thing in terms of "contract" but health care is provided by people and contracts really do not matter - you have not signed a contract to be harmed. Suggest in addition to OE, you name and go after each and every individual involved in your care - name them all and get them all to defend themselves. A great way to get them to may more attention in the future. They all have indemnity insurance and will have to let their insurers get involved.

I would like to say well done to Sasha for adding a forum to this great looking newly designed web site.

Reply to John.
Thank you for your sympathies John. Unfortunately it is not simple to sue OE even though it should be. They have a firm of solicitors who are evidently complicit. A patient approaches OE in good faith and trusts that they are in the hands of competent, qualified and trustworthy staff. NOT TRUE. The sales procedure is designed in such a way that by the time a patient realises that something has gone wrong it is too late. A Consent Form has been signed which totally and completely absolves OE from any responsibility whatsoever. Worse still, OE DON'T CARE.
I am in the middle of litigation. My solicitor is STILL waiting for a response to my Letter of Claim that was sent to HARPER MACLEOD in May 2012. Harper Macleod refuse to respond to letters, emails and phone calls. They are deliberately stalling. Why? Because they evidently knew that the branch where I had surgery was apparently a part of Optical Expree Southern Ltd which changed its name in October and then immediately went into administration.
It would appear that I was under the total misapprehension that I had agreed a Contract with Optical Express.....but no I had entered into an agreement with 123Leeds Ltd who unfortunately no longer exist.
So, many of thousands of pounds later I have the additional challenge of establishing that my Contract is with OE who continues to trade at the branch where I had my surgery with surprise surprise Optical Express over its door.
So they continue to take on patients even though they are in administration and the law allows this to happen. Imagine the folk who are unknowingly committing themselves to surgery at this branch, the Trafford Centre Manchester, handing over money, even having surgery with the distinct possibilty that the branch may not be there next week?
How can this be allowed to continue?
I shall make it a lifelong commitment to expose this Company wherever, whenever and however I can, because they have destined me to a lifetime of indescribable pain and misery.

I have recently come across this forum and I am disgusted at the way in which Optical Express have ruined so many people's lives through laser eye surgery. It beggars belief that they are getting away with this. I myself do not have the greatest eyesight but after reading these forums, I would never dream of having any type of surgery and would also never recommend Optical Express to anyone considering eye surgery as I have heard far too many horror stories. I totally sympathise with all you folk experiencing the adverse effects of surgery. Eyes are very precious and certainly not something to be messed around with.

SHAME ON YOU OPTICAL EXPRESS!!

I would advise anyone whose lives have been ruined by Optical Express to seek legal advice and sue this company.

I would like to commend Sasha for all her efforts in publishing this site, not dependent on advertising revenue for it's upkeep, so that people can speak honestly without censorship.

The government announced last week that the cosmetic surgery industry is going to be subjected to strict controls and regulation. Free consultations are to be banned, cooloing off periods enforced, and unqualified salespeople not allowed to "hard sell" treatments.
The laser/refractive eye surgery industry must be subjected to the same strict controls as a matter of urgency, and it is a scandal of epic proportions that it has been allowed to operate with no proper regulation whatsoever.
The government are aware of the scale of the problem, and many more people will have their most precious sense ruined by an industry which is driven by the ruthless pursuit of business profit regardless of the suffering it inflicts until action is taken.

All too often these companies twist the truth to lure consumers into their trap... Surely the government should & could do more to prevent this across the board???

OE are just one of many corporates exploiting slack marketing regulations.