Joint venture partnership model in Domiciliary Eyecare  

OutsideClinic officially launches joint venture partnership model 

In a move that could transform the domiciliary eye care industry, OutsideClinic, the UK’s largest and fastest growing provider of home eye care services, has officially launched its joint venture partnership (JVP) model, as it looks to plug the optometrist gap in the sector and ensure the people most in need of eye care don’t get left behind.

The new opportunity means that optometrists can now combine a rewarding career where they deliver genuinely life-changing care, with all the benefits that come from owning their own company – with guaranteed client acquisition, comprehensive marketing support and ongoing business development all included in the package. In addition, there’s no weekend working, helping optometrists to achieve a better work-life balance.

Partners have access to a steady flow of patients and the opportunity to build and run a fully supported domiciliary practice, with a proactive head office team taking care of marketing, appointment scheduling, HR and the accounts. The new roles give optometrists the flexibility to manage their own day, with the freedom to be out and about rather than tied in a testing room all of the time. In addition, they provide optometrists with the chance to really use all of their clinical expertise and develop it further through the company’s industry-leading professional development programme.

The launch of the JVP model comes as the company continues to experience strong demand for its services, with its team of optometrists delivering a record 85,000 clinics in patients’ homes in the first half of this year.

While 460,000 eye tests were conducted in a domiciliary environment in 2019/20[1], making it the fastest growing area of optometry, research suggests that 2.7m people in the UK would currently benefit from domiciliary eye care[2] – with OutsideClinic urgently looking to recruit more optometrists into the sector in order to help as many people as possible.

The introduction of joint venture partnerships builds on the existing employed opportunities the company offers optometrists in a broad range of domiciliary settings, from patients’ homes through to care homes and sheltered accommodation.

Commenting on the launch of the new model, OutsideClinic’s director of strategic partnerships, Paul Chapman-Hatchett, said: “With demand for domiciliary eye care services set to increase significantly over the next 10 years in response to a growing ageing population that’s increasingly likely to suffer from eye conditions, we’re urgently looking to plug the optometrist gap in the sector to ensure that everyone who requires it has access to the often life-changing eye care our clinicians deliver.

“The launch of our joint venture partnerships further strengthens the already broad range of career opportunities we’re able to offer, providing ambitious, committed and patient-centred optometrists with a compelling new opportunity to run their own company, helped by the best support team in the business.

“Our existing partners are already successfully growing their JVPs and we’re confident our model will enable optometrists to create and build a profitable business that offers an excellent work-life balance, underpinned by access to the best possible portable equipment and the time and space required to deliver the very highest standards of patient care.”

OutsideClinic’s JVPs are open to all optometrists and while domiciliary experience is preferable, it’s not essential.

Further information is available at outsideclinic.co.uk/jvp and optometrists interested in the opportunity should contact Paul Chapman-Hatchett in the first instance on 01793 648683 or email paul.ch@outsideclinic.com.