Irfan Razvi standing in College Elections 7 February 2024

Voting has opened for the College of Optometrists Council Election 2024. A ballot is being
held in the West Midlands region, and those of you who are College members, and whose
main correspondence address is in this region, are eligible to vote.
Among the candidates standing for election is our own IRFAN RAZVI, Chair of Staffordshire
Local Optical Committee for the last four and a half years.
Irfan has led the profession tirelessly and selflessly throughout this time, not least during
the Covid-19 pandemic and in its immediate aftermath, when he ensured that
Staffordshire's optometrists and dispensing opticians were kept informed of local and
national guidance and developments, and helped ensure that PPE was allocated efficiently
and appropriately to all optical practices delivering essential and urgent eyecare in
Staffordshire.
The pandemic only served to add to capacity pressure within the already-overburdened
Acute Trust setting. Irfan was one of the first people to recognise that these challenges
could be addressed within the context of the National Eye Care Recovery and
Transformation (NECRT) Programme, with community optometrists granted the opportunity
to make full use of their clinical skills, knowledge and equipment within the new
transformative eyecare pathways.
Irfan has also helped to promote increased collaboration between Community Optometry,
The Acute Trusts, ICB and other eye health stakeholders, via the Local Eye Health Network
(LEHN) and the Clinical Senate. Under Irfan's Chairmanship, we have seen the evolution of
MECS into CUES across most of the Staffordshire ICS, and the launch of new transformative
Integrated Cataract and Glaucoma Referral Filtering pathways across the whole of the
Staffordshire ICS, making Staffordshire one of the frontrunners for transformative change
nationwide. These achievements would not have possible were it not for Irfan's passion,
enthusiasm and resolute advocacy for the merits of Clinical Optometry.
Irfan is of the firm conviction that Optometry has been under-represented in the Primary
Care and Eye Health settings for too long. He believes that if this is to change, the optical
profession will require better representation at national level. The recent commissioning
successes that we have enjoyed in Staffordshire, and any prospective new transformative
pathways such as Integrated Glaucoma Monitoring, are all under threat if eyecare services
commissioning isn't scaled up across the nation. Irfan would be grateful for the opportunity
to be elected on to the College of Optometrists Council, so that he may play an active role in
helping to shape the College's strategic direction, deliver the best frameworks for clinical
optometry, and achieve the best outcomes for College members in Staffordshire and
beyond.
If, like us, you believe that Irfan would be a positive, dynamic and effective
College Council member, then please consider joining us in casting your vote for Irfan in the
ballot, if you have not already done so. Voting closes at 12 noon on Thursday 29 February
2024.
Link to the online voting site: mi-vote.com/secure/collegeofoptometrists
Thank you for your consideration.
Regards
Mark McCracken and Shelley Stubbs
Officers, Staffordshire Local Optical Committee