Hammonds maintain focus on service
Stephen and Deborah Hammond ... “You have to be able to walk down the street knowing that you are providing the best possible care to your patients.”
The months of lockdown earlier this year proved to be a trying time for many health care practitioners who remained open to provide emergency care.
“Like so many in the health profession, we had to carefully evaluate how to keep staff and patients safe while still providing emergency services,” said Optometrist, Stephen Hammond.
“We really were in survival mode for a while. Fortunately, we have a wonderful team here and they took it all in their stride. I think it indicates the level of commitment we have to what we do.”
Stephen and Deborah Hammond and their staff at Hammond Optometry divided into two teams in order to look after the emergency clients that came through.
“While people were at home, they seemed to be tackling all kinds of handyman jobs,” said Stephen.
“So unfortunately, we were seeing lots of people with foreign bodies in their eyes. It may not seem like such a big deal, but while the best case scenario is that you can have a very uncomfortable day with something stuck in your eye, the worst is that you can go blind.
“I guess the takeaway is that if you are going to do handyman jobs around the house, use proper protective goggles!”
“We were determined to stay open because a lot of bigger Optometry businesses closed their doors straight away,” said Deborah.
“It is important that people can still access services like ours. So we are hyper-vigilant about cleanliness and safety and our staff are on top of the training around restrictions and safe practice,” she said. “The majority of our patients are elderly and it is important that they feel safe to come here.”
Stephen and Deborah have operated their practice in Nambour since 1991, and have become well known for their range of fashion eyewear, which attracts people from all over the Sunshine Coast.
“I was tired of hearing people say that they had to go to Brisbane to buy fashionable eyewear,” Deborah said.
“After so many years in practice, I have learned to buy frames with our customers in mind. I think that is one of the advantages of being a private operator. We do not have to accept stock that has been bought in massive quantities. We are free to source quality options we think our customers will prefer. You will not see our frames everywhere.”
Fashion aside, service and care are the other ingredients to longevity, according to Stephen. “This is still a country town and you have to be able to walk down the street knowing that you are providing the best possible care to your patients.”
• Hammond Optometry is at 44 Lowe St, Nambour. Phone 5476 2333.