Meet a council member: Jonathon Bench
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I have a wonderful family that I am very proud of. They are more talented than me in so many different ways, but I know I couldn’t do what I do without them supporting me.
My wife is a writer and my daughter a keen dancer, and both have a great sense of humour which might be why they say they “love me”?!?
Why did you join the BCLA?
I joined the BCLA when I moved into a new role as Contact Lens Product Manager at D&A Opticians. The BCLA was a brilliant place to understand what was new (both for the future and today) and what represented best practice for both the patient and the practitioner
What encouraged/inspired you to apply to be on BCLA Council?
I was very fortunate to be approached by some council members at the time to get more involved and bring my perspective to the discussion. The one thing that BCLA has always done is embraced the diversity of our wonderful profession and world, wanting to hear the different voices that are within it. I also saw it as a great opportunity to say “thank you” back to BCLA for all it provided to me in the years prior.
Apart from the membership benefits, what else do you get from the BCLA?
Quite simply, I get inspired. There are so many great practitioners, academics and experts across the membership that share generously their experiences, insights and questions.
What is it like being a member of the BCLA council?
Having a chance to help the BCLA evolve and adapt to the optometric landscape (that is ever changing) is challenging, but rewarding. Asking the questions on behalf of members to the organisation, and those questions on the mind of non-members to help understand how we can welcome more of them into a community by offering them what they also need.
What message would you like to give to members / non-members?
Contact lenses and dry eye are an easy thing to overlook in everyday optometric practice – this is for many reasons, not least of which that they are invisible (in so many different ways). I remain enthused by the reaction of;
o Someone who finally has their dry eye understood and diagnosed
o new wearers to their first experiences of contact lenses
o returning wearers to how different it might be now from their last time, and
o those who continue in their contact lenses after a great aftercare appointment
They are incredible and more people requiring vision correction should be given the opportunity to experience them and see what benefit they can bring to their lives.
For those members who deal with the more complicated and sophisticated types of contact lenses and corneal challenges I salute you –the difference you make every day is incredible.
What do you think will be the biggest change in contact lenses and the anterior eye over the next five years?
I think that change brings opportunity and excitement. Someone once said to me in the early part of my career that “We work in a practice for a reason. That is because every day we come to practice what we do, and if you think you have it all mastered and nothing more to learn then that is the day you need to stop”. Change is what fuels our development (personal and professional) and allows us to continue to lift the bar on the service we provide to our patients. What will be the biggest change? It will be the one in each of us – exciting, eh!!
Biography
Jonathon is an optometrist, graduating from Cardiff University. He has worked as resident and mobile optometrist in both multiple and independent practices, and been a joint venture partner, before moving into contact lens category management. He also has experience of supporting eye care practitioners in both the UK and Canada to develop and enhance their contact lens business.
Jonathon now works as Head of Professional Affairs for Alcon®, where amongst other things he looks after their in house (Alcon Academy) and in field professional development teams and offering; delivering training, support and education to eye care practitioners throughout the UK and Ireland.
In 2015 Jonathon was elected to serve on BCLA council, and now sits on their Executive Committee, holding the position of President Elect from June 2018, before becoming President in June 2019. Through this and other commitments to the Optometric profession he has also been part of working parties at the General Optical Council (GOC).