LOC Support Unit Optical Leads
Charles Barlow, West Midlands
Owner/Director of Pinder & Moore a House practice based in Dudley with a domiciliary service covering the East and West Midlands.
Charles has a wide experience of leadership roles within the sector including Secretary of Dudley LOC for 10 years (now Vice-Chair), former Vice-Chair Coventry and Warwickshire AOP, Dudley Low Vision Services Committee, Solihull LOC, and the creation of CovSolWar Regional Group and Heart of West Midlands regional LOC.
Charles is also a WOPEC Glaucoma lead assessor.
Jane Bell, South West
Jane is a self-employed optometrist with over 30 years' experience in numerous different types of practice including multiple, hospital, health centre, independent optometry-owned and dispensing-owned practices. She provides a weekly optometry clinic in a Primary Care Medical Centre, managing anterior segment eye disease and refining referrals for 4 GP practices, so is accustomed to working with GPs as well as ophthalmologists.
Jane has worked with LOCSU as an associate since January 2008. Other roles include AOP Director and Chair of Dorset LOC. Jane also sits on Vision 2020 UK Primary Care Group plus Glaucoma Alliance UK.
Jane was awarded The College of Optometrists Diploma in Therapeutics, Additional Supply in July 2006 and Independent Prescribing in July 2010.
Bruce Gilson, South Central
Bruce currently works in independent community practice in four practices across Buckinghamshire. He has been involved with Buckinghamshire LOC since May 2001 and has been Chair since May 2003. He is the Lead Assessor in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes for the LOCSU Chronic Open Angle Glaucoma/Ocular Hypertension pathway and is a LOCSU associate.
He leads the working groups on the development of the LOCSU Adult Low Vision Pathway and the LOCSU People With Learning Disabilities Pathway.
Stewart Mitchell, Yorkshire and The Humber
With his own practice in Bradford, Stewart is part of the SOAP team of Optometrists (Shipley Ophthalmic Assessment Programme), a GP based, optometrist run, triage clinic with its roots in GP Fundholding. It has consistently shown over 60% of eye related referrals to GPs can be managed by Optometrists, and that onward referrals are prioritised and directed effectively.
Currently Chair of Bradford LOC, Stewart regularly attends NHSBA eye-care strategy and contract monitoring meetings, supporting the PCT direct its eye-care policies and setting up enhanced services.
Locally he has been a City & Guilds assessor for Diabetic Retinopathy Service Screener/Graders.
Stewart gained his doctorate in 1996.
Vicki Macken, South East Coast
Vicki works at a large independent practice in the centre of Brighton, where she has undertaken a variety or roles including pre-registration supervisor and optometry manager.
Vicki has been part of East Sussex LOC since 1996 and became Chair in 2010. Vicki has also served on Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust's Professional Executive Committee since 2003, where she has worked on a number of projects including the development of optometry and ophthalmology services and wrote the protocol for the direct cataract and post-operative care pathway.
She was part of the team who successfully ran a project for the Department of Health for AMD using specialist optometrists and helped set up a dedicated Low Vision Clinic in Brighton.
Susan Parker, North West
As a community optometrist, Susan has worked in all types of practice from large multiples to small independents. Previously a practice manager and a pre-registration supervisor she now work three days a week between two local practices.
In 2003, Susan became a PEC member at Stockport PCT and later took on her current role of PEC Vice Chair and Clinical Governance Lead for the PEC/PCT Board. In her PCT role she has been involved in the commissioning of local pathways for wet AMD and glaucoma and optometry clinical governance practice visits. She has also worked with the LOC to develop and revise primary care services for cataract, diabetic retinopathy screening, paediatric refraction and glaucoma referral refinement.
Susan is on the working group which developed and continues to update Quality in Optometry and has contributed to the development of the LOCSU pathways for cataract, glaucoma, PEARS and Low Vision.
Zoe Richmond, North East
Graduated from Bradford university in 1993 with a first class honours degree and started work with a small independent optometric practice on the North Yorkshire border (Stephen H. Reily LTD). Zoe has worked as an Optometric advisor for many years. Initially, working for the Health Authority, then for Langbaugh Primary Care Group which later became Redcar and Cleveland Primary Care Trust, and latterly, as part of the medical directorate in NHS Tees.
Zoe has played a key role in the development of all the current enhanced services across Tees and has been an active member of the LOC for most of her optometric career.
Jason Rickaby, East Midlands
An independent practitioner in Lincoln, providing PWSI services and referral triage for Lincs Health in addition to GOS and private eye examinations. Jason is currently Secretary for Lincolnshire LOC. Jason's previous experience includes working in the corporate sector as a JVP for Specsavers and independent practice with Kevin Thompson in the North East and work in Laser Surgery.
Jason has a Masters Degree in Optometry with a special interest in the role of diet and nutrition in eye care.
Joan Myhill, East of England
Joan is an Optometrist having qualified in 1980. Working as Practice Manager in the early 80s, Joan went on the provide locum services to mostly small independent practices in the East Anglia region. As well as many years of Ophthalmic experience, Joan also completed a Masters Degree in Computer Science in 1989, which lead to a number of Technical, Managerial and then Executive Director positions in the Utilities Software business sector within 3 global companies. Her latest role was Director Europe Middle East and Africa for GE Smallworld, a subsidiary of General Electric.
Joan is now founder and Managing Director of Mystar Consultants Ltd, a Business Growth Consultancy based in East Anglia, providing services to a number of SME clients in the region. She also provides locum cover in the community and is the Administrator and Liaison contact in Cambridgeshire LOC.
Sue Leighter, London
Sue Leighter has a house practice in Edgware and has previously worked as a locum in London. She also has experience as an Optometric Adviser. She has been active in Barnet, Enfield & Haringey LOC for many years and currently chairs the LOC. She has previously sat on the Barnet PEC. As an AOP councillor she has represented the profession on several outside organisations and currently sits on the Macular Group of Vision 2020 UK.
Her main interests are clinical and she has been involved in setting up schemes in Diabetic Retinal Screening, Pre-op Cataract Assessment and Glaucoma Referral Refinement and she is also a WOPEC Glaucoma lead assessor. She also has experience of carrying out evaluations into several enhanced services.
