“Buzzing” ABDO clinical conference

Escape room team winners Davinia Hadley, Claire McWilliams and Karen Burnett

Putting multi-disciplinary dry eye management in the spotlight, the 2025 ABDO clinical conference practical days were held on Sunday and Monday 12 and 13 October at the National Resource Centre (NRC) in Birmingham.

A busy, full-day programme featured four interactive skills workshops designed to enhance clinical confidence and foster collaborative care across the whole eyecare team. Each provided delegates with three interactive CPD points – with an extra two points available on successful completion of a visual recognition test.

Supported by Platinum Sponsors EssilorLuxottica and Topcon, and Gold Sponsors Alcon, the Body Doctor, Fidia, Grafton Optical, Mainline Instruments and Scope Eyecare, the conference also enabled delegates to gain further insights into dry eye products and instrumentation designed to aid early diagnosis and successful patient management.

ABDO director of professional development, Alex Webster, said: “It was wonderful to see so many delegates engage so enthusiastically in the area of dry eye. The exhibition was buzzing with people exploring the products, technology and services available to support patients with dry eye, then learning through the CPD sessions about how the multi-disciplinary team can put these confidently into practice. I was particularly impressed with the competitive spirit shown in the Escape room session.

“As always, we are very grateful to all our sponsors who supported the event, without whom we would not be able to deliver this education to our members. In particular, I thank them for understanding the role dispensing opticians and contact lens opticians provide in delivering care to dry eye patients in High Street practice as part of the wider multi-disciplinary team.”

Delegate member, Claire McWilliams, said: “It was a thoroughly enjoyable day. I don’t get to do much dry eye work in practice as a locum, so refreshing my skills and updating my knowledge was really valuable. The OSCE-style scenarios really emulated the normal patient journey, and this was probably my favourite session. The escape room scenario was a fun addition as well, creating some healthy competition with colleagues.”

For those who have yet to access any of ABDO’s online dry eye conference education, three webinars will be available as CPD recorded lectures from the beginning of November. ABDO members can also still book places on peer reviews and journal club via the Events page.

Full report to follow…