As the new chairman of this association I am writing to you to introduce the new executive committee. I do this at a time of great upheaval in the way we practice our specialty and the delivery of healthcare in general in both the NHS and independent sectors. It is my firm belief that, as ophthalmologists, we need a strong organisation with a broad membership base out with our college. This is in order to deal with many matters that the college, by virtue of its charitable status and charter, cannot. This has been brought home to me recently as the activities of private medical insurance companies have started to impinge on our professional lives. The ability to communicate rapidly and disseminate information to large numbers of colleagues has hindered us as individuals from making informed choices about our approach to proposed restrictive networks. As a result, the implications for patient choice of surgeon and hospital, as well as likely interference in the doctor/patient relationships inherent in these networks, have not been appreciated by all. “Quality” or lack of it has been used as one of the main reasons for one of the insurer’s (BUPA) proposals. However, the financial constraints imposed on hospital and surgeon by these new low tariffs will likely have the opposite effect. It will restrict the use of high quality consumables and disposables like intraocular lenses and viscoelastics and limit the ability for the timely purchase of new equipment by hospitals. Please can you let me know as a matter of urgency what is happening re hospitals and colleagues in your area in relation to BUPA and PPP so that I can judge better the national picture. Many of our colleagues in other specialities have associations that encompass the vast majority of those practising in that discipline viz. anaesthetists, orthopaedic surgeons, ENT surgeons, aesthetic surgeons. They have established local groups that can share information due to good contacts (telephone and email). This then leads to easy national coverage when required. We as ophthalmologists do not have anything like this. The AOO is currently too small to speak with a truly national voice however we are joining FIPO and FSSA. It needs current members to remain and renew their subscriptions but, most importantly, to begin, as your new executive will be, to recruit new members. To that end I am enclosing application forms to be distributed, in an evangelical manner, amongst your colleagues. We will send out standing order forms in the near future so that you will not need to think about renewals etc. As you will be aware the previous executive and others produced an excellent guide for commissioners. I would recommend that you all obtain copies of this to use in your local area. AOO will continue to play an important role, in conjunction with RCO, as the new approaches to ophthalmic healthcare are debated and activated. We shall keep you informed both on the website and by direct mailing about such developments.
The plight of young ophthalmologists who have completed their training but are languishing without a substantive consultant post is very apparent. This association in conjunction with the college will try to bring pressure to improve prospects.
Finally ophthalmologists who are not in training and not in consultant posts equally need to keep abreast of these unrelenting changes. Without a strong voice they will be vulnerable to exploitation and with the College now engaging with this group the Association hopes to help raise their visibility and potential. I look forward to working with you all. Feel free to contact the association through the email link above. Yours sincerely, Richard Packard
Chairman AOO | 
