Meet the Board – Emma Spofforth
26 October 2020
Straight-talking Londoner Emma Spofforth decided from an early age that her career would lie in eyecare. A varied career and a knack for getting stuck into every opportunity now sees Emma holding various LOC and AOP positions. As the Representative for the Midlands and East of England region on the LOCSU board, she ensures that board debate is robust. We caught up with Emma while she was walking her beloved cockapoo, Obi, to find out more about her…
“I was always into the Sciences at school and initially was interested in working as an Orthoptist, but a stint of work experience aged 16 made me reconsider,” says Emma. “I realised I didn’t want to be working in a hospital setting, so I looked at alternatives. My A Level subjects of Biology, Physics and Maths were perfect for a degree in optometry, so I went to City University and became one of the few optometrists in training who didn’t wear glasses!”
On graduating, Emma initially worked in independent practice, before joining a large multiple in 1990. This gave her an opportunity to diversify her skillset: “During that time I was involved in supervising pre-reg optometrists, CLOs and DOs, which I really enjoyed. However, the pressure of working for a multiple and supervising meant I felt I couldn’t fully do justice to both roles, so I made the decision to switch back to working for a small independent practice group.”
It was here that a conversation with a patient led her in a new direction: “The patient was a GP working for the local PCT doing performance assessment and they had a case involving an optometrist who had been subject to a complaint. He thought I would be interested in helping them to deal with it, so I got involved.” After this experience Emma felt that optometrists needed to know more about the performance assessment process, so she contacted Essex LOC with a view to briefing them on it. It was the beginning of a long association that continues today.
“I arrived at the LOC meeting and found that the committee was in a bit of a state of flux,” Emma chuckles. “Two meetings later I was the Secretary! I have always been keen to improve communication within the LOC, with LOCSU and with practitioners. This has never been as important as during the COVID-19 crisis.”
Emma’s commitments have multiplied, and she is now Clinical Lead for the LOC, AOP Councillor for the East of England and an AOP Board member. She credits her straightforward approach with helping her to fulfil these roles.
“I’m quite a blunt, outspoken person – as I’m sure my fellow committee and board members would agree! There’s no hidden agenda with me so if I say something, it’s because I mean it and because I believe it needs to be heard at board level. That’s important in my role as the LOC representative for the Midlands and East of England region and I try hard to make sure the issues that are important for those areas are communicated to the LOCSU board.”
Emma is keen that LOCs in those regions contact her if they have topics they’d like to raise with the board. “We have the Optical Leads, who do a great job, but if there is something that LOCs want to talk to me about, I’d encourage them to get in touch.”
Communicating on COVID-19
Communication has been front and centre for Emma and Essex LOC during the response to COVID-19. Classified as extremely vulnerable on health grounds, Emma has been shielding since early March, which has been frustrating: “I went into this job to help people, so not being able to see patients was upsetting, however it did free up my time to help practices in Essex as the crisis unfolded.”
“We did a lot of comms out to practices because there were so many messages coming through from different organisations during the early stages; it was difficult for many practices to make sense of it all while still trying to deliver services. We plucked out the most important elements relating to practice operations and communicated them in a straightforward way, strongly focused on information and actions, and gave links where more details could be found. The feedback from the practices has been very positive.”
Emma also got stuck into helping distribute PPE to practices during the most difficult period: “I spent Easter weekend coordinating with a CCG that offered us free PPE, getting it picked up and delivered in the area.” Over the first phase of the pandemic, there was a huge amount of hard work undertaken by the LOC as a whole, and Emma says: “The committee members in Essex pulled out all the stops. Many of them were working in practice and looking after their families but they all stepped up to distribute PPE – I can’t thank the team enough for everything they’ve been doing.”
Emma believes there is still a big piece of work to do around communicating primary care capabilities and needs to NHS England, CCGs and Hospitals and finding a balance between service and cost. “CCGs need to commission services at a rate that is sustainable for practices. They need to understand that we want to work with them, we are a professional industry in our own right, and we have the capability to help solve the long waiting times and backlogs that are affecting secondary care. But there has to be the right level of remuneration – never more so than during the pandemic where practices are financially challenged.”
Hobbies, icons and inspirations
When she gets time to relax Emma enjoys reading novels, particularly Brighton-based author Peter James, saying, “Getting lost in a good book while on holiday is one of life’s greatest pleasures.” She also loves getting out in Epping Forest with Obi the cockapoo or travelling further afield to the Lake District or Cornwall so Obi can indulge his love of the beach. When conditions allow, Emma will go back to travelling the world to see all the amazing sights it has to offer.
In terms of inspirations, Emma has an affinity for those with complex life stories who have overcome adversity. She cites Alan Turing as a particular inspiration and he would be part of her dream dinner party line-up, saying: “I think what he achieved, against the persecution he suffered, is truly astonishing.”
Listening to music and going to concerts is another pleasure Emma is missing currently. She admires anyone who is creative, such as her musical icon, George Michael, whom she saw in concert many times.
Added to the dinner party line-up would be the musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone: “Imagine not just a duet with George but the conversations they might all have about their often-chaotic lives!”
Finally completing the line-up would be “a bit of eye-candy” in the forms of David Beckham or Tom Hardy. It sounds like a great line-up and there’s no doubt that with Emma hosting, it would be an evening to remember!