UK unemployment has unfortunately increased by 128,000 in the three months to October, the highest level since 1994. Unemployment is now at a staggering 2.64m.  The Office for National Statistics revealed some figures which showed that:   The jobless rate increased from 7.9% to 8.3% The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance rose to 1.6m […]

Flame Health Optometry provide a wealth of experience for all our candidates and clients within the Optometry job sector. The team specialise in providing professional recruitment solutions for Specialist Optometrists, Senior Optometrists, Hospital Optometrists, Optometrists, Laser Optometrists, Domiciliary Optometrists, Optical Joint Venture Partners, Contact Lens Opticians, Dispensing Opticians, Optical Dispensing Managers, Optical Practice Managers and […]

Good news for optical professionals! The GOC has reduced its annual retention fee by £10 for both full price and low income members. This is great news as it is the second consecutive year that the GOC has reduced fees. Samantha Peters, GOC chief executive and registrar, said: “The reduction in fees for next year […]

Bad news for contact lens wearers. A new study from Bausch and Lomb has found that over half of UK contact lens wearers experience problems such as blurred vision, halos and glare in low light. The survey was conducted by 2,000 people using various lenses. 63% reported blurred vision, 60% suffered glare and 56% complained […]

This week has shown disappointing news for PCT’s in England. Latest figures published by Which?, has shown that PCT figures have almost doubled over the last 12 months by failing to offer free in school vision screening. There have been several campaigns to increase this percentage over the past year however figures have increased from […]

The REC’s latest Job Outlook report has revealed that although employer confidence remains fragile, there are signs that employers are becoming more confident about longer-term hiring intentions. This is obviously great news for employees on the job market. The report found that over the next 12 months, 42 per cent of employers are planning to […]

Flame Health are happy to hear that the College of Optometrists have plans in place to be more cost effective and supportive. This has been driven after a low uptake of its current advanced education. Members highlighted that barriers to applications included financial and time constraints, gaining the required experience needed to enter the examination, […]

The Office of National Statistics has stated that the number of people out of work has gone up by 114,000 to 2.57 million in the three month period up to August. Commenting on the latest figures, Tom Hadley, the REC’s Director of Policy and Professional Services, said: “This increase is one of the most substantial […]

The European Parliament has urged for eye tests to be made compulsory for all drivers every 10 years. A report entitled ‘Own Initiative’ calls for concerted action in a bid to reduce the estimated 35,000 deaths on roads across Europe annually. Eye tests are just one of the areas that could reduce this figure. The […]

Flame Health are happy to hear that Optrafair will be back on April 13-15th 2013 at the NEC! This year’s Optrafair attracted more than 6,600 visitors over its three days, which was 2% up on the 2009 figure. This year Flame Health thoroughly enjoyed Optrafair and had a great time meeting everyone who came to […]

Flame Health are shocked that a poll recently conducted by Vision Express has shown that fewer than half of patients said they take their children for an eye test at least once a year. The survey showed that parents are more likely to take their children out to buy new shoes or to get a […]

Permanent staff placements rose in August, similar to a rate from July, the Report on Jobs published by the REC and KPMG stated.  There was also a strong rise in candidate availability. This is the strongest rise since January 2010. However the number of vacancies available was at a low, the lowest in 9 months. […]

A new booklet published by the General Optical Council (GOC) warns that people could be putting their sight at risk by wearing illegally sold cosmetic contact lenses. The booklet, also endorsed by the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA), explains that customers should only buy the lenses from a legal source, have them fitted by a […]

Research from the College of Optometrists  has found that almost a third of people who haven’t had a sight test for the last two years cite the fact they ‘don’t think it necessary’ with 50% claiming they haven’t visited an optometrist because ‘I haven’t experienced any problems with my eyes’. Other popular reasons for not […]

The second National Eye Health Week will take place this week. Once again, eye care charities, organisations and health professionals from across the UK are joining together to promote the importance of eye health and the need for regular sight tests for all. The week, which has been established to communicate the importance of good […]