Optometrists and dispensing opticians

Health Workforce Annual Survey, 2010

Introduction

A health workforce survey was included with each invoice for the Annual Practising Certificates (APC) sent to optometrists and dispensing opticians in February 2010.

Of the 850 optometrists who were sent an invoice, 542 optometrists (63.8 percent) indicated that they were working actively, 69 optometrists (8.1 percent) indicated that they were not actively working and 239 optometrists (28.1 percent) did not respond to the survey.

Of the 210 dispensing opticians who were sent an invoice, 157 dispensing opticians (74.8 percent) indicated that they were working actively, nine dispensing opticians (4.3 percent) indicated that they were not actively working and 44 dispensing opticians (21.0 percent) did not respond to the survey.

The 542 optometrists actively working represent 88.7 percent of survey respondents and the 157 dispensing opticians actively working represent 94.6 percent of survey respondents. It is not known if the APC holders who did not respond to the survey are working in this field. The following statistics are based on 542 active optometrists and 157 active dispensing opticians.

List of tables

Table 1: Age and gender of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, 2010...... 2

Table 2: Ethnicity of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, by gender, 2010...... 3

Table 3: Qualification country of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, by gender, 2010...... 4

Table 4: District Health Board of employer for active optometrists and dispensing opticians, by average hours worked, 2010 5

Table 5: Main employment setting of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, by gender, 2010..7

Table 6: Worktype by main employment setting for active optometrists and dispensing opticians, 20108

Table 7: Worktype for active optometrists and dispensing opticians, by gender, 2010...... 9

List of figures

Figure 1: Age of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, as a percentage, 20102

Figure 2: Ethnicity of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, as a percentage, 20103

Figure 3: Qualification country of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, as a percentage, 20104

Figure 4: District Health Board of employer for active optometrists, by average hours worked, 20106

Figure 5: District Health Board of employer for active dispensing opticians, by average hours worked, 2010 6

Figure 6: Main employment setting of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, 20108

Figure 7: Worktype for active optometrists and dispensing opticians, as a percentage, 20109

Figure 8: Active optometrists by year of qualification, 1966 to 200910

Figure 9: Active dispensing opticians by year of qualification, 1962 to 201010

Survey results

Of those respondents with a reported gender, 50.3 percent were female, while 63.2 percent of the dispensing opticians were female, as illustrated in Table 1 and Figure 1. The median age of optometrists was 40 years and for dispensing opticians, 42 years.

Table 1: Age and gender of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, 2010

Age group / Optometrists / Dispensing Opticians
Male / Female / Not reported / Total / % / Male / Female / Not reported / Total / %
20–24 / 6 / 15 / 1 / 22 / 4.1 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 1 / 0.6
25–29 / 20 / 57 / 0 / 77 / 14.2 / 0 / 16 / 0 / 16 / 10.2
30–34 / 23 / 53 / 0 / 76 / 14.0 / 6 / 11 / 0 / 17 / 10.8
35–39 / 31 / 55 / 0 / 86 / 15.9 / 9 / 23 / 1 / 33 / 21.0
40–44 / 36 / 33 / 1 / 70 / 12.9 / 10 / 13 / 1 / 24 / 15.3
45–49 / 29 / 27 / 0 / 56 / 10.3 / 7 / 12 / 0 / 19 / 12.1
50–54 / 34 / 11 / 1 / 46 / 8.5 / 12 / 13 / 0 / 25 / 15.9
55–59 / 36 / 13 / 0 / 49 / 9.0 / 5 / 5 / 0 / 10 / 6.4
60+ / 44 / 3 / 3 / 50 / 9.2 / 7 / 3 / 0 / 10 / 6.4
Not reported / 6 / 1 / 3 / 10 / 1.8 / 1 / 1 / 0 / 2 / 1.3
Total / 265 / 268 / 9 / 542 / 100.0 / 57 / 98 / 2 / 157 / 100.0

Figure 1: Age of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, as a percentage, 2010

Table 2: Ethnicity of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, by gender, 2010

Ethnic description / Optometrists / Dispensing Opticians
Male / Female / Not reported / Total / Male / Female / Not reported / Total
NZ European / 154 / 126 / 3 / 283 / 25 / 57 / 1 / 83
NZ Maori / 3 / 6 / 1 / 10 / 1 / 2 / 0 / 3
Other European – British & Irish / 36 / 35 / 1 / 72 / 21 / 17 / 0 / 38
Chinese / 18 / 35 / 1 / 54 / 3 / 0 / 0 / 3
Indian / 11 / 22 / 0 / 33 / 2 / 2 / 0 / 4
Other European / 14 / 9 / 0 / 23 / 1 / 8 / 0 / 9
Other Asian / 5 / 15 / 0 / 20 / 1 / 4 / 0 / 5
South East Asian / 5 / 3 / 0 / 8 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 1
Other European – Australian / 2 / 3 / 0 / 5 / 2 / 1 / 0 / 3
African / 2 / 4 / 0 / 6 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 1
Samoan / 1 / 2 / 0 / 3 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 1
Other Pacific Peoples / 3 / 2 / 0 / 5 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Other / 8 / 4 / 0 / 12 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 5
Not Reported / 3 / 2 / 3 / 8 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 1
Total / 265 / 268 / 9 / 542 / 57 / 98 / 2 / 157

The majority of the active optometrists (52.2 percent) and dispensing opticians (52.9 percent) identified with the New Zealand European ethnic group (see Table 2 and Figure 2). This trend is consistent with previous years.

Figure 2: Ethnicity of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, as a percentage, 2010

Table 3: Qualification country of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, by gender, 2010

Ethnic description / Optometrists / Dispensing Opticians
Male / Female / Not reported / Total / Male / Female / Not reported / Total
New Zealand / 202 / 210 / 5 / 417 / 25 / 66 / 2 / 93
United Kingdom / 41 / 40 / 1 / 82 / 20 / 15 / 0 / 35
South Africa / 12 / 10 / 0 / 22 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Australia / 4 / 6 / 0 / 10 / 7 / 12 / 0 / 19
Canada / 1 / 1 / 0 / 2 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 1
Malaysia / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 1
United States of America / 2 / 0 / 0 / 2 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
India / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 1
Austria / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 1
Not reported / 3 / 1 / 3 / 7 / 2 / 4 / 0 / 6
Total / 265 / 268 / 9 / 542 / 57 / 98 / 2 / 157

Most optometrists (76.9 percent) and dispensing opticians (59.2 percent) became qualified in New Zealand. The next most common country of qualification was the United Kingdom (see Table 3 and Figure 3).

Figure 3: Qualification country of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, as a percentage, 2010

Table 4: District Health Board of employer for active optometrists and dispensing opticians, by average hours worked, 2010

DHB of employer / Optometrists / Opticians
Total / Average hours per week / Total / Average hours per week
Northland / 12 / 39.0 / 5 / 39.2
Waitemata / 39 / 41.3 / 16 / 41.2
Auckland / 88 / 43.0 / 20 / 40.3
Counties-Manukau / 32 / 42.2 / 10 / 41.2
Waikato / 27 / 43.5 / 13 / 39.5
Lakes / 9 / 42.8 / 4 / 39.5
Bay of Plenty / 25 / 42.6 / 7 / 40.0
Tairawhiti / 4 / 40.8 / 4 / 40.8
Hawke's Bay / 12 / 44.9 / 4 / 38.0
Taranaki / 8 / 39.6 / 4 / 42.0
MidCentral / 19 / 41.8 / 2 / 35.0
Whanganui / 5 / 44.8 / 1 / 36.0
Capital & Coast / 38 / 40.9 / 13 / 38.2
HuttValley / 13 / 41.9 / 5 / 42.0
Wairarapa / 2 / 46.0 / 0 / 0.0
Nelson Marlborough / 13 / 43.1 / 4 / 37.8
West Coast / 1 / 43.0 / 0 / 0.0
Canterbury / 53 / 40.8 / 16 / 39.8
South Canterbury / 2 / 38.5 / 2 / 46.5
Otago / 20 / 45.7 / 0 / 0.0
Southland / 6 / 41.5 / 1 / 40.0
Locum / 2 / 41.0 / 1 / 55.0
Not Reported / 2 / 45.0 / 1 / 40.0
Total (full-time) / 432 / 42.2 / 133 / 40.1
Part-time / 97 / 17.9 / 20 / 19.5
Not Reported / 13 / - / 4 / -
Total (all) / 542 / - / 157 / -

Table 4and Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the District Health Board (DHB) of employer, by average hours worked.

Excluding districts with less than five respondents, the highest average hours worked per week was in the Otago district for optometrists (45.7 hours) and the Counties-Manukau district for dispensing opticians (41.2 hours). The lowest was in the Northland district for optometrists (39.0 hours) and the Capital and Coast district for dispensing opticians (38.2hours).

Figure 4: District Health Board of employer for active optometrists, by average hours worked, 2010

Figure 5: District Health Board of employer for active dispensing opticians, by average hours worked, 2010

Table 5: Main employment setting of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, by gender, 2010

Employment setting / Optometrists
Male / Female / Not stated / Total / %
Private practice
– employed by a dispensing optician / 6 / 16 / 0 / 22 / 4.1
– employed by an optometrist / 57 / 103 / 0 / 160 / 29.5
– self employed / 159 / 90 / 6 / 255 / 47.0
University / 9 / 6 / 0 / 15 / 2.8
Hospital and health service/DHB / 12 / 5 / 0 / 17 / 3.1
Other / 18 / 30 / 1 / 49 / 9.0
Not reported / 4 / 18 / 2 / 24 / 4.4
Total / 265 / 268 / 9 / 542 / 100.0
Employment setting / Dispensing Opticians
Male / Female / Not stated / Total / %
Private practice
– employed by a dispensing optician / 2 / 7 / 0 / 9 / 5.7
– employed by an optometrist / 13 / 51 / 0 / 64 / 40.8
– self employed / 24 / 14 / 1 / 39 / 24.8
University / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0.0
Hospital and health service/DHB / 0 / 1 / 1 / 2 / 1.3
Other / 11 / 19 / 0 / 30 / 19.1
Not reported / 7 / 6 / 0 / 13 / 8.3
Total / 57 / 98 / 2 / 157 / 100.0

Table 5and Figure 6show that 47.0 percent of optometrists are self employed in a private practice, while the majority of active dispensing opticians are employed by an optometrist (40.8 percent).

Figure 6: Main employment setting of active optometrists and dispensing opticians, 2010

Table 6: Worktype by main employment setting for active optometrists and dispensing opticians, 2010

Optometrists / Dispensing Opticians
Employment setting / General optometry / Management / Study/ research / Teaching / Other / Not reported / Total / General dispensing / Management / Study/ research / Teaching / Other / Not reported / Total
Private practice
– self employed / 262 / 183 / 49 / 8 / 15 / 4 / 521 / 38 / 32 / 5 / 5 / 4 / 0 / 84
– employed by an optometrist / 176 / 3 / 14 / 1 / 5 / 9 / 208 / 61 / 18 / 3 / 6 / 2 / 4 / 94
– employed by a dispensing optician / 24 / 2 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 27 / 8 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 1 / 15
University / 9 / 5 / 12 / 11 / 3 / 0 / 40 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Hospital and health service/DHB / 19 / 6 / 1 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 31 / 1 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 3
Other / 49 / 5 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 66 / 25 / 14 / 1 / 5 / 3 / 1 / 49
Not reported / 17 / 7 / 2 / 0 / 0 / 11 / 37 / 11 / 7 / 0 / 2 / 0 / 1 / 21
Total / 556 / 211 / 84 / 22 / 31 / 26 / 930 / 144 / 74 / 10 / 20 / 10 / 8 / 266

Table 6 illustrates the main employment setting by work type of the active respondents to the 2010 survey. Each optometrist and dispensing optician had the option of specifying more than one work type. This table shows that the active optometrists reported 930 worktypes and active dispensing opticians reported 266 worktypes. This is 1.7 worktype per active optometrist and 1.7 worktype per dispensing optician.

For optometrists, the most common combination of work type by employment setting was general optometry in self-employed private practice (262). For dispensing opticians, it was general dispensing in private practice employed by an optometrist (61).

Table 7: Worktype for active optometrists and dispensing opticians, by gender, 2010

Worktype description / Optometrists / Dispensing opticians
Male / Female / Not reported / Total / Male / Female / Not reported / Total
General dispensing / 269 / 280 / 7 / 556 / 53 / 90 / 1 / 144
Management / 136 / 71 / 4 / 211 / 31 / 42 / 1 / 74
Study/research / 47 / 36 / 1 / 84 / 4 / 6 / 0 / 10
Teaching / 11 / 11 / 0 / 22 / 10 / 10 / 0 / 20
Other / 14 / 16 / 1 / 31 / 4 / 5 / 1 / 10
Not reported / 11 / 12 / 3 / 26 / 2 / 5 / 1 / 8
Total / 488 / 426 / 16 / 930 / 104 / 158 / 4 / 266

Table 7 and Figure 7 illustrate the worktypes of active optometrists and dispensing opticians. General dispensing was the most common worktype for both optometrists and dispensing opticians.

Figure 7: Worktype for active optometrists and dispensing opticians, as a percentage, 2010

Figure 8: Active optometrists by year of qualification, 1966 to 2009

Figure 8and Figure 9illustrate the year that active optometrists and dispensing opticians received their main qualification. The earliest year recorded for optometrists was 1966 and the most recent 2009. The most common decade for optometric-related qualifications was 2000 to 2009.

The earliest year recorded for optometrists was 1962 and the most recent 2010. The most common decade for dispensing optician-related qualifications was 2000 to 2009.

Figure 9: Active dispensing opticians by year of qualification, 1962 to 2010

The Ministry of Health would like to thank all the health care professionals who completed the 2010 workforce questionnaire. This is an annual survey which all health care professionals are encouraged to complete. If you have any comments or require further survey results please contact:

Analytical Services

Regulation and Governance Directorate

Ministry of Health

PO Box 5013, Wellington 6145

Tel: (04) 816 2870

Fax: (04) 816 2898

Email:

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