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A bit about me

I am currently the Head Orthoptist at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, I qualified as an Orthoptist in 1995 from the University of Liverpool, early in my career I also completed the Vision and Strabismus MMedSci with the University of Sheffield; both fabulous universities located within the fabulous North of England.

Throughout my career I have gained extensive experience across various subspecialties of orthoptics and ophthalmology along with additional training in such areas as Leadership and Management, Population Health, and Continuous Improvement but have never lost sight of the importance of maintaining our core orthoptic skills and knowledge.

I grew up in the North West of England and whilst I have worked in various departments across England and abroad, I ultimately returned to my roots in Lancashire. With over 30 years of experience as an Orthoptist, I am standing for election as the BIOS North of England Trustee, I believe strongly in the future direction of our profession and the importance of being visible, being connected, and being forward thinking.

Why I am campaigning to be the next North of England Trustee

Throughout my career I have been committed to developing high quality, patient centred orthoptic services and supporting the professional growth of colleagues at all stages. The BIOS Strategy highlights the need for strong professional identity, improved workforce sustainability, and proactive leadership, these priorities align with my own values and experience embedded into my own department. I am passionate about helping BIOS deliver on these strategic goals across the North of England, ensuring that our members feel informed, supported, and represented.

What I would like to achieve

I am particularly focused on strengthening communication and visibility, members deserve a Trustee who is approachable, engaged, and actively present within the region. If elected, I will prioritise:

• Clear, consistent communication with members about BIOS activities, opportunities, and decisions.
• Raising the visibility of BIOS and our profession at local, regional, and national levels.
• Creating stronger connections between clinical teams, educators, service leads, and new entrants to the profession, including the sharing of knowledge and skills between departments.
• Delivering quality CPD by working collaboratively with LOOP and Heads of Services to ensure high quality study days within the region, I am motivated to facilitate inclusive, equitable and relevant CPD events which represent the members’ clinical interests and emerging service needs.

My pledge to you

I have always been a strong advocate for collaboration, innovation, and high standards of clinical practice. As Trustee, I will work to ensure that the North of England remains a vibrant, influential, and well connected part of BIOS, one where every member feels heard and valued.

I believe clear and transparent communication is essential to this role and I would therefore prioritise timely reporting back following Trustee meetings, ensuring members remain informed about national developments, strategic decisions and opportunities that affect their professional practice. I would actively seek members’ views through face-to-face engagement, digital communication and structured surveys to ensure their voices are heard.

As the BIOS Professional Development Framework continues to evolve, I will champion its implementation to ensure orthoptists across the region have access to meaningful development opportunities, recognition of advanced practice roles, and pathways that reflect the breadth of our profession. My background as both a clinician and a service manager gives me a deep understanding of workforce challenges, service demands, and the importance of supporting staff to progress confidently within the framework.

I would be honoured to represent you and to contribute my experience, energy, and longstanding commitment to the future of orthoptics.

Thank you for considering my nomination.

Claire Critchley

My name is Krishan Parmar, and I am applying for the role of Northern Trustee for the British and Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS).

I have 18 years of post-graduate high level orthoptic experience as a clinician, manager, and leader. I currently work at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital as Principal Orthoptist for Education, Research, Training and Development and hospital Clinical Lead for Clinical Effectiveness. Integrity, compassion, and teamwork are my core values, which I use to underpin my leadership style and passion for orthoptic education, workforce development and orthoptic professional development. Away from work I am happily married and a dad to two beautiful (and loud) children. I enjoy a chippy tea, watching any sports and playing darts!

I am applying for the Northern Trustee role, as I want to use the skills and knowledge that I have developed in two ways. Firstly, to support and advocate for every member of the Northern Orthoptic workforce, to ensure that their voice is heard and listened to. Raising concerns and queries with the Board in a two-way transparent conversation, and contributing to the sharing of knowledge, learning, and experiences. The focus of which is to allow each Northern BIOS member to understand that they are vital to the sustainability and development of the profession. Secondly, as a Board member, I want to use my skills to safeguard and grow the profession, ensuring the role remains a vital part of the eye specialty team, and can be practiced and enjoyed by future generations. I will ensure that I uphold the integrity of the role, make sound governance related professional decisions and advocate for the best interest of BIOS, by being curious, working effectively with fellow Board members and drawing on my own expertise and that of the Northern orthoptic workforce.

My attributes to being an effective trustee include:

• Strong governance awareness and strategic oversight
• Organizational insight
• Previous Chair of the Leads Of the Orthoptic Profession (LOOP) from 2021 -2024. Within that capacity, I brought together senior orthoptic leaders nationally to drive consistency in service delivery, influence policy discussions, and strengthen professional collaboration
• Commitment to equality, diversity, and professional inclusion
• Ability to challenge constructively while maintaining collective responsibility
• Clear communication and stakeholder engagement skills
• A passion for staff wellbeing
• Commitment to patient care

My core values: integrity, compassion, teamwork, visibility, and respect.

The principal areas where I would like to focus my time as Northern Trustee would be:

• Embed a greater sharing of knowledge and experience facilitating orthoptic departments supporting each other
• Safeguarding BIOS, by developing leaders within the workforce
• Promote the role of the Orthoptic Professional Advocate. Ensuring the wellbeing, resilience, and growth of members

Thank you for taking the time to read my campaign note and I hope that it has encouraged you to vote for me, to be your next Northern BIOS Trustee.

Trust Krishan Parmar for BIOS Northern Trustee. Where action meets integrity.

My name is Jonathan Graves, and I am the Head of Orthoptics & Optometry at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

I qualified as an Orthoptist in 2009 and have lived and worked within the Midlands and East region since 2012, working within three trusts within the region during this time.

I put myself forward to become the Midlands and East trustee as I believe it is essential our region has a voice within the national BIOS strategy. Different regions share many of the same issues but there are problems that are unique to each region and some shared ones that are more pressing, such as recruitment and retention.

Previous trustees for the region have set up regular meetings between department leads as a way of providing support, ideas and resources which is something I wish to reinstate and build on.

Local CPD opportunities specific to Orthoptics is also something I wish to help with and would look to facilitate and support where necessary, ideally with different departments hosting study days on a regular basis to share interesting cases and brief on extended roles. My department and others in the region have allowed Orthoptists from other trusts to come and learn extended roles that they have then been able to take back and start at their own departments. I believe this is a fantastic and effective way to develop our skills and is something I would wish to expand on across the region.

With the Orthoptic Apprenticeship on the horizon, from meetings I have attended, local networks of departments to support potential apprentices will be critical to the success of these schemes and could be a key way in combatting the recruitment problems the region has had in recent years.

I also have experience in Job planning, which is something a lot of trusts are now trying to implement within their AHP services and is something I believe I can offer a lot of support to other departments in the region if needed.

The role of an Orthoptist has expanded greatly since I qualified all those years ago and this is for the benefit of the individual Orthoptists as well as the departments in which they work and the patients we see and treat. Having the guidelines for these extended roles and the support and guidance on setting them up and clear evidence to support development of these roles as well as business case support, although already present within BIOS could be expanded further and is something I wish to push for.

Thank you!

Professional background

I am currently the Head Orthoptist at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and I am extremely excited about the opportunity to campaign to be the BIOS Midland and East Trustee. Throughout my career, I have gained extensive experience in teaching, managing and leading three teams including orthoptists, visual field technicians and ophthalmic photographers. I have balanced academic written assignments and practical examinations alongside working as a clinical orthoptist and have successfully completed a Master’s Level module in Clinical Education, as well as Level 3 awards in Leadership and Management. In addition, I have completed a Master’s degree in Research Applied Health Studies, which has strengthened my knowledge of research methodology within the health sector. My final year project was published in the British and Irish Orthoptic Journal in 2024.

What can I bring to the role?

Orthoptists are one of the smallest professions in the AHP workforce, with only 1544 registrants (HCPC 2023); however, they contribute significantly to patient care within ophthalmology. Orthoptists are underrepresented in the AHP workforce, and I believe the Trustee position is essential to the future of the orthoptic workforce. The development of extended roles within orthoptics is a key part of the future of ophthalmology, particularly in light of the current shortage of medical staff. It is essential that orthoptists are provided with the opportunities to upskill so they can contribute further to patient care across other areas of ophthalmology, widening their scope of practise and helping reduce patient backlogs. Equally, it is vital to ensure that the expansion of extended roles does not negatively impact core orthoptic services. I have been involved in implementing several orthoptic-led services and led service developments, including the implementation of virtual and telephone clinics. I have relevant experience with in managing departmental budgets and have been a budget holder for over five years. I understand the importance of financial accountability at both local and national levels. Under my leadership, the first Band 7 Advanced Orthoptist role was created at Leicester to support the progression of internal staff. This was challenging due to Trust financial constraints, but with perseverance, it was successfully achieved. I can bring independent thought and have significant experience chairing monthly staff meetings to gather staff opinions and feedback. I also chair meetings with vision impairment teachers in the local area. My experience as Head of a large department has strengthened my ability to have challenging conversations when required and making difficult decisions.

What would I like to achieve as a Trustee?

• Raise awareness of our highly skilled roles, encouraging improved student intake in the area and more consistent recruitment across the region. This includes supporting the apprenticeship program.
• Raising awareness of inconsistencies in bandings across the region and nationally.
• Raising awareness of the importance of vision screening. I have had regular meetings with MPs, the local authority and the Integrated Care Board (ICB) to present our findings for the need for vision screening in Leicester.
• Use my experience of meeting with MPs to continue advocating the independent prescribing rights for Orthoptists at the highest level.
• Provide guidance, advice and information on how to become involved in extended roles and develop Orthoptic-led services. At Leicester, we run several clinics, including paediatric cysts clinics, paediatric cataract clinics, surgical assistance, paediatric uveitis, paediatric oncology, CVI, botulinum toxin, pituitary and IIH clinics.
• Further develop my knowledge of national protocols while building strong relationships and networks with members of BIOS and colleagues within the region. I aim to represent the views of the regional members by settling up regular meetings and CPD events to share expertise. I have previously supported colleagues in the region with protocols, guidelines and implementation of new services/clinics. Having grown up in the Midlands, I have a strong understanding of the challenges affecting the region, including barriers such as social deprivation.

I am passionate about Orthoptics and believe I have the transferable skills required to contribute effectively as a Trustee. I understand the importance of individual judgment, teamwork, clear communication and adaptability in both clinical and non-clinical settings, and I would demonstrate full commitment to this position if successful.