ABDO member nominated for national award
Award celebrates those who provide outstanding services to people with macular disease
ABDO member, Jayshree Vasani, has been shortlisted in the Optician or Optometrist of the Year category for this year’s Macular Society Awards for Excellence.
Jayshree has been a dispensing optician for three decades, qualifying in 1989. She divides her time between working in practice at Skye Optometrists in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, and in several roles for ABDO including being a local lead for London, practical examiner and practice visitor. In addition, Jayshree has been a sessional optician for the RNIB for almost 10 years.
Most recently, Jayshree has been working alongside patient advocate Daniel Williams, founder of Visualise Training and Consultancy, to deliver ‘Seeing beyond the eyes’, a nationwide roadshow aimed at giving eyecare professionals a greater knowledge and understanding of sight loss and patients’ needs. It was Daniel who nominated Jayshree for the award.
Jayshree said: “Daniel did tell me he’d put my name forward to the Macular Society for one of its awards, but I didn’t really think anything of it. It was a nice surprise to find out I’d been shortlisted though; I’ve long been impressed with the way the society engages with its members and the information and support it provides, so I’m very pleased to have been shortlisted.
“I still enjoy being in practice, but a huge part of what I do now is making sure that our sector continues to give patients what they need. Many conditions can have common touch points – diabetes, for example, can lead to sight problems and other health conditions. So understanding how other healthcare professionals approach certain conditions, and seeing if we can apply anything they are doing to help people with sight loss, is a key area of focus and one that can have enormous potential benefits.”
Cathy Yelf, chief executive of the Macular Society, commented: “The commitment and dedication Jayshree has shown in caring for people with macular disease, and all that she does to help increase the skills and knowledge of her fellow professionals, is clear from the tremendous feedback we’ve received about her work. She really has made an incredible difference and it’s only right that her efforts have been recognised with this richly-deserved nomination.”
If successful, Jayshree will be presented with her award at the Macular Society’s national annual conference at the Leonardo Royal London Tower Bridge Hotel in London, on Saturday 21 September.