Sharia Lindo

I have been editor of the British and Irish Orthoptic Journal (BIOJ) since June 2016. As you all know the journal is held in high regard across the world. The journal is going from strength to strength. We have had an increase in the number of new manuscripts and starting to attract more international submissions. The “reach” of the journal is also increasing, with readers from the United States, France, India, China to name but a few! BIOJ is fully open access and we accept submissions relating to original research, review articles and case [...]

Lorraine North  All team members involved in the Medical Retina CAG would like to take this opportunity to thank Lorraine North for her amazing leadership and work throughout the previous years as Chair. Lorraine has a very busy day job but has always found the time to further the profession by inspiring other Orthoptists to become involved in injecting roles or reviewing patients in Medical Retinal clinics. Lorraine has always been approachable and knowledgeable, and her CAG team look to her as the leading light in the Orthoptic Retinal world. She was instrumental in writing many of the BIOS extended [...]

Welcome to the latest edition of PV. I was delighted to be appointed the Public Health lead for BIOS in September 2017. Since, then much of my work has involved raising the profile of Public Health in orthoptics, but equally raising the profile of orthoptics in the Public Health arena. In addition to representing BIOS on the AHP Public health strategy board, I have had the opportunity to raise our profile at the PHE Falls working group and currently on the Vision UK working group for ‘Public Health messaging’. More recently, I had the [...]

Getting funding for a small or pilot project can be a challenge, but there are small pots of money available if you know where to look. It is unlikely to fund “full economic costs” – salaries or overheads -  but it might pay for some equipment, PPI or patient expenses, or a few hours of expert support. There are some national schemes, such as those offered by charities, BIPOSA, RSM Squint Forum Prize, and occasional BIOS funding schemes, but sometimes there are Trust pots funded by legacies or small local charities. Ask around at [...]

I represented BIOS at the HRA consultation in Cardiff on July 31st 2019 which concentrated on how to improve transparency in research. (Twitter #MakeItPublic) The day concentrated on clinical trials, but guidelines might well extend to wider health research in the future. The consultation is considering different ways to increase public and participant access to research and is focusing on registration of studies on a central register - so that people can find out what is being done making it public – making research progress and outcomes easily accessible to everyone, in plain English [...]

Social prescribing, sometimes referred to as community referral, is a means of enabling people to be referred to a range of local, non-medical services. Recognising that people’s health is determined primarily by a range of social, economic and environmental factors, social prescribing seeks to address people’s needs in a holistic way. It also aims to support people to take greater control of their own health. Social prescribing can meet a wide range of needs, with many schemes aiming to improve mental health and physical wellbeing. It can be used to support adults, young people and children as well as people [...]

I am pleased to introduce the second July edition of Parallel Vision. I am the Orthoptistes de la Communauté Européene (OCE) also known as the European Orthoptic Committee representative for BIOS and in 2017 appointed the OCE secretary.  As a member of BIOS you have the benefit of also being a member of the OCE. The OCE is the spokesperson for the orthoptic profession on European topics and liaise with European government bodies and organisations and national orthoptic societies. It has three working groups: the education committee, European affairs, communication and international relations. The [...]

My two-year term as the New Graduate Representative for BIOS has sadly come to an end and I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who supported me in this role. Starting out, it was an eye-opening experience to get in touch with all the other new graduates and share our experiences. This position opened many opportunities for me, such as attending careers fairs in Birmingham and inspiring school children to follow healthcare and Orthoptics as a career choice. I have also attended strategy days for the SIHED campaign “I See [...]