Geoffrey Woodward obituary

My friend and colleague Geoffrey Woodward, who has died aged 79, did a great deal to enhance the profession of optometry. He was principal optometrist at Moorfields eye hospital (1976-87) and professor of optometry and visual science at City University, London (1987-99).Geoff's wish to see members of the public protected in their dealings with optometrists and dispensing opticians led to his service on the General Optical Council (1977-2000). He was also concerned with how the profession should best be run, as a council member of the College of Optometrists (1980-98), with a year as president (1983-84).Born in Leamington Spa, where his father was a chief inspector of police, Geoff was educated at Warwick school. He qualified in optometry at the Northampton Polytechnic (in London, where it is now part of City University) in 1956. Eight years later, following national service in Malaya, he set up a contact lens practice in Nottingham, while providing optometric services to the RAF hospital at Nocton Hall in Lincolnshire. His interest in contact lenses led on to a PhD on keratoconus, a condition in which the normal shape of the cornea is lost and in which contact lenses can often restore good vision, while spectacles generally cannot. He also played a big part in the development of standards for the solutions with which contact lenses are maintained, there having been none such previously, and became involved in early initiatives to secure the right to independent prescribing of...
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