Celebrating Excellence: Winners of the 2025 SCOPE Independent Prescriber Bursary Awards Announced

The end of June 2025 marked the final of the SCOPE Independent Prescriber (IP) Bursary Awards, now in its fourth year. The award supports optometrists to gain IP qualification by providing a bursary for the course fees. This exciting initiative continues to draw strong interest from optometrists across the UK, with a high calibre of applications reflecting the appetite from optometrists to advance their clinical practice.

Five outstanding finalists were selected to present clinical case studies and share their personal motivations for pursuing Independent Prescribing. The judging panel of dedicated and passionate advocates for IP was chaired by Professor Nick Rumney and he was joined by Sarah Farrant and Connan Tam. They praised all the finalists for their professionalism, patient-centred approach, and clear passion for clinical excellence.

We are delighted to announce that this year’s winners of the £3,000 IP bursaries are:

• Jennifer Smith – Broadhurst Optometrists, Preston
• Verinder Singh Bansal – Locum Optometrist, Coventry

Jennifer shared her excitement, saying:

“I am incredibly proud and grateful to be the recipient of the 2025 SCOPE IP Bursary. This is an incredible opportunity to bring much-needed community IP optometry services to Preston and the surrounding areas. Being able to manage acute conditions and provide seamless care will make a tangible difference to my patients’ lives and contribute significantly to strengthening community-based healthcare by improving access and easing the burden on our local hospitals. I’d like to thank SCOPE for this opportunity, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Verinder echoed that sentiment:

“I am absolutely delighted to have been awarded an Independent Prescriber bursary from SCOPE. This opportunity is a significant step forward in my professional journey. My patients and their care are at the heart of everything I do, and gaining prescribing rights will allow me to enhance the level of clinical care I provide.”
“The bursary offers a vital opportunity to help bridge the gap between hospital eye care services and community optometric care, ensuring patients receive timely, seamless treatment closer to home. I am excited to start the IP course—the knowledge of which will be invaluable—and my future practising scope amplified.”

In recognition of their excellent cases the other finalists received a £100 educational voucher and they were:

• Inderpal Ghuman, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Mohammed Fardin, Specsavers West Bromwich
• Zainab Ahmad, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust

Edel Duffy, Medical Director at SCOPE, commented:

“We’re incredibly proud of this initiative and delighted by the continued enthusiasm from optometrists to upskill through Independent Prescribing. This benefits not only their careers but most importantly, their patients. SCOPE remains committed to supporting the profession through education and clinical development and we are looking forward to the 2026 competition already.”

The SCOPE IP Bursary Awards reflect the company’s ongoing dedication to improving patient outcomes by empowering optometrists to take on extended roles within primary and secondary care.