NES Optometry

27/01/2026

📣We are pleased to announce that we are now hosting Independent Prescribing Simulation-Based Sessions in 3 locations:

📍WOScOTT, Stobhill Hospital – Multiple dates.
📍Falkirk Community Hospital – 25th Feb, 11th March, 25th March. 📍UHI Inverness – 10th March.

Each day is made up of two sessions (am/pm), each session can be used for 3 Specialist or 3 General Interactive CPD points and 1 IP clinical placement. (N.B. These sessions cannot be repeated. To count towards your IP clinical placement, you must have successfully passed your University Independent Prescribing course.)

Our Teach and Treat Clinics, are now available in Falkirk Community Hospital, on a Thursday afternoon (commencing 13.30), offering a unique opportunity for community Optometrists to:

• Manage and treat real patients presenting with acute eye problems
• Work under the close personal supervision of an experienced Ophthalmologist
• Gain hands-on experience while providing first-class care

This is your chance to build confidence, learn advanced techniques, and strengthen your clinical skills and confidence in a supportive environment.

For further information and bookings, please visit Turas: https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/82579

27/01/2026

Join NES and ABDO for a collaborative webinar
'Clinical and Dispensing Considerations of Prism'

This lecture explores the clinical rationale and practical challenges surrounding the prescribing and dispensing of prisms in ophthalmic practice.

Target groups: dispensing optician and optometrist

Learning domains: clinical practice and professionalism

📣1 interactive CPD point
💻BOOK HERE: https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/87694
🗓️Wednesday 4th February
⌚19:00-20:00

23/01/2026

⭐️Save the date⭐️

BIOS Conference & AGM 2026.

This exciting 2 day event will be held at Radison Blu, Glasgow on 18th & 19th June 2026.

For further details, please visit the link below:
https://orthoptics.org.uk/save-the-date-bios-conference-agm-2026-18th-19th-june-2026-glasgow/?fbclid=IwY2xjawPgN2lleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBzZUZXSlEwV1p3SjdXWGdzc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHo__b26J7yaXJUnGPdGMC9MbfPk1cKIrvjCJj2WdXveGFmT0S2AnT6OMW44v_aem_qL8b4XxXCp3T3lujgLLa7Q

23/01/2026

🎉3 days to go🎉
We’re excited to be hosting Diabetes: From the Retina to Reality at the Stirling Court Hotel on Monday 26th of January.

Keep an eye on your inbox for final details!
Looking forward to seeing you there!🥳

19/01/2026

🎉1 week to go🎉

We’re excited to be hosting Diabetes: From the Retina to Reality at the Stirling Court Hotel on Monday 26th of January.

This event is fully booked🙌 If you’re no longer able to attend, please let us know so we can offer your space to someone on our waiting list.

We can’t wait to welcome everyone. Keep an eye on your inbox for final details!🥳

14/01/2026

ANTERIOR EYE SPOTLIGHT

COMING SOON TO A LOCATION NEAR YOU!

We are delighted to invite you to an exciting and unique learning opportunity designed to advance your clinical skills and empower you in the management of anterior eye conditions for both IP and non-IP optometrists. This event will be held in a safe and supportive learning environment, ensuring you can develop your expertise with confidence among peers.

FIRST UP ARE GLASGOW AND INVERNESS (MORE VENUES TO FOLLOW)

Our spotlight sessions feature three dynamic workshop rotations, each tailored to provide practical, hands-on experience and collaborative discussion:

• Peer Discussion: Engage in lively discussions with fellow practitioners, sharing knowledge and experiences to deepen your understanding of anterior eye conditions.
• Practical Foreign Body Removal Skills: Gain invaluable hands-on practice in foreign body removal, guided by experienced clinicians to ensure safe and effective technique.
• 3D Discussion Workshop: Take part in an interactive workshop utilising 3D spatial videos, enhancing your diagnostic and management skills through immersive case-based learning.

📣 9 interactive CPD points (6 can be claimed as IP)
💻 BOOK HERE: https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/87963
🗓️ Monday 23rd February 2026 Glasgow (Stobhill Hospital)
🗓️ Monday 9th March 2026 Inverness (UHI House)
⌚17:45-20:45

Event Highlights

• Acquire practical insights for recognising, diagnosing, and managing a wide range of anterior eye conditions in everyday clinical practice.
• Build confidence in performing essential procedures in a safe, supportive setting.
• Network and collaborate with fellow clinicians in an engaging and professional atmosphere.

09/01/2026

📣2026 GOS Mandatory Training is available for completion!

💻 'A Realistic Approach to Community Eyecare'
📆Completion deadline: 31st December 2026

The resource aims to enhance your understanding and implementation of the principles of Realistic Medicine and Value-Based Health and Care (VBH&C) within your role as an eyecare practitioner in Scotland.

📲Access the training here: https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/26227

05/01/2026

📣NES is partnering with NHS Golden Jubilee to offer community optometrists a fantastic CPD opportunity on managing cataract surgery.

You will shadow Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon, Dr Sumona McLaughlin, and a senior cataract optometrist, as they assess newly referred patients from across every Health Board in Scotland, moving through the consenting for surgery process.

*6 CPD points available (sessions can also count towards 1 IP clinical placement).

Sessions are now available in January 2026.

Book here: https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/79140

25/12/2025

24/12/2025

🎀 1 day to Christmas 🎀

One day just wasn’t enough to tell you about all the FTY progress, so here’s a couple more highlights from the year:

✅ Assessments
We supported GCU and UHI to create robust, authentic assessment approaches. Sign-off processes are underway to confirm shared ownership and alignment across both universities. This included equality impact assessments to embed inclusion from the start of programme design.

✅ Coming soon…
Quarterly newsletters (subscribe by emailing nes.ftyoptometry@nhs.scot), remote & rural lifestyle videos and student/supervisor explanation videos to be released in the new year, as well as the ongoing development of a comprehensive FTY resource hub, with a dedicated Supervisor space.

📣 A huge thank you to everyone across universities, employers, professional bodies, Optometry Scotland, Scottish Government and NES colleagues who’ve contributed this year. We’re excited for the next steps!

23/12/2025

🎀 2 days to Christmas 🎀

This year has seen major progress in the FTY, the fifth year of Scotland’s new MOptom (IP) programme, launching in 2028.
For full details visit our dedicated Turas Learn page
https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/71767

Here are some highlights:

✅ Placements
We’re designing two 24-week workplace-based placements to offer diverse clinical experience, including urban, remote & rural settings, with a preference-based matching approach agreed in consultation with stakeholders. At our Stakeholder Day at Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow, we showcased the simulation and ‘teach and treat’ components of the delivery to universities, employers, professional bodies, and partners.
Watch the highlights here: https://vimeo.com/1131322977

✅ Supervisors
Each student will have an Academic Mentor, a Clinical Supervisor, and an Educational Supervisor, aligned to a Once for Scotland standard. We’ve developed training modules for Supervisors, piloted them on Turas Learn, and refined them based on feedback. These modules include built-in peer review and provide ongoing support.

Don’t miss tomorrow for a little more….

22/12/2025

🎀 3 days to Christmas 🎀

The 2025 Mandatory Training: Population health: community optometry making an impact in Scotland received great feedback with over 70% of learners leaving a 5-star rating and comments like “Excellent! Love this course”, “..very useful, informative and interesting”, “..compliments to the staff producing this for our profession”.

We’re so glad you liked it and hope that it reinforced the positive impact of community optometry on the population in Scotland!

Look out for the 2026 Mandatory Training coming in the new year, “A Realistic Approach to Community Eyecare”.