Pros
Company benefits are quite good
Cons
Do not be mistaken by their apparent 'health -led ethos' - ITS ALL ABOUT PROFIT: - Clinically they do not encourage you to truly put patients first- the shift towards greater diagnostic tools is not matched by the company- equipment in many practices is antiquated. - pressure to convert is very evident in middle managers sitting in on your tests to see whether you push all the retail KPI's - the KPI's include: spare pairs, coatings (they are very keen on the blue light reducing lenses - which have questionable clinical benefit from evidence based scientific literature), transitions, sun glasses, flu jabs, smoking reduction, hearing tests, contact lenses. ALL THIS IS MONITORED AND FORMS PART OF YOUR PERFORMaNCE REVIEW -I forgot to mention you include this in your 25 minutes test -I also forgot to mention you still have to DO your sight test within this time and explain the photos -you NEVER leave he test room- 100% conveyor belt system -you work through lunches (time never given back- the response is your time management skills need improving!) - branch managers 100% profit driven in their approach- they will squeeze in patients (without your knowledge) even though you are fully booked- the implication is you cut your test times down- what happened to 25 min test times??? - diary is managed badly- you may have 6 patients over 80 years old in a row, followed by a contact lens aftercare- it's impossible to keep to your 25 min grid (as all patients are prescreend which means it's takes over 10-15 minutes before you see them. You are already behind before the first patient comes in! The contact lens patient requires little if any prescreening and arrive on time, meaning they have to wait and often rebook! The Clinician gets it in the neck from the patient and staff (and managers!) . It's a totally ridicous situation. - no career progression- it's an old boys network and highly political. They want 'yes' men. Questioning their motives (because you are passionate about the care you offer) goes against you in the long run- they only care about profit and reducing their expenses- it's NOT about patient care, sadly.