The General Optical Council (GOC) recently set out proposed changes to the way it responds to complaints of illegal sales. These changes included a desire to build relationships with online platforms who had the power to stop sales at source, and requiring early lawyer input into investigations to ensure evidence gathered during investigation was admissible as part of a prosecution.
GOC director of regulatory operations, Dionne Spence, said: ‘We really hope the revised strategy and protocol will provide clarity and raise awareness about our remit and about when we can bring prosecutions and when alternatives to prosecution will be the preferred route.’
A proactive approach
In its response to the GOC’s consultation, the College explained that it welcomed the updated protocols, but added: ‘However, we recommend the GOC do more to stop illegal activity by adopting a more proactive approach in tackling illegal practice from overseas suppliers that do not comply with UK legal requirements, and by leading regular public awareness campaigns on the risks of sourcing optical appliances from these overseas online suppliers, to help protect patients and the public.’
The College said it disagreed that the updated protocols more closely linked with the GOC’s overarching function to protect the public. It explained the protocol should form part of a wider illegal practice strategy: ‘The protocol does not constitute in itself such a strategy… and it will not be sufficient to effectively prevent illegal practice in all cases, in particular where providers of optical appliances are based overseas.
‘Now more than ever, we need a wider illegal practice strategy. In recent years, the healthcare environment has seen an increase in online prescribing and dispensing of optical appliances. This raises issues with potential lack of appropriate supervision for safe supply of contact lenses without specification verification and spectacles supplied without ensuring the prescription is valid.’
The College added that while it recognised that the GOC does not have the jurisdiction to take action on overseas sales, it would like the GOC to raise the issue with the appropriate local regulator and recommend a course of action.
Clarity of action
The College also agreed that the updated protocol would provide clarity on when the GOC would take action and what action would be taken, but said it was ‘not clear how the GOC will assess if a case carries a higher risk in line with the factors… and how this will inform the GOC’s assessment decision.’
It said: ‘We recommend the GOC to also be able to prosecute cases where there is potential and not only actual harm. This may not be possible if a case, being adjudged to be lower risk, has been closed or referred elsewhere at an earlier stage.’
Comprehensive strategy
In its response, the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) echoed the College’s call for a wider ranging strategy on illegal sales.
The Association’s head of strategy, Alistair Bridge, said: ‘ABDO supports the new aspects of the GOC’s prosecution protocol, namely the emphasis on collaboration with online platforms to prevent illegal sales. This will be particularly beneficial in relation to the supply of products that can be sold only under supervision and, therefore, cannot be sold online, such as children’s spectacles and cosmetic contact lenses.
‘Tackling illegal practice effectively, however, requires a comprehensive strategy that includes action to prevent public harm where products and services are supplied by non-UK businesses or individuals.
‘Traditional enforcement action in these cases is undoubtedly difficult, meaning more creative and proactive approaches are needed, such as action to promote patient awareness of the risks involved in buying products and services online without receiving professional advice and aftercare.’
More to be done
The Association of Optometrists (AOP) said it had often reported what it suspected was illegal practice to the GOC and welcomed its consultation.
‘However, there is still much more to be done to reduce the risk to the public and protect them,’ said Adam Sampson, AOP chief executive, ‘particularly as the trend for consumers to buy online is only set to grow.’
Sampson added: ‘When we asked them, over half our members reported seeing evidence that the law is being broken by suppliers, with many UK websites being run by companies based overseas and so falling outside UK jurisdiction.
‘Nearly half of the public are simply unaware of this legal loophole. This shows a widespread issue that has very serious implications for public health. We urge the GOC to take action to raise public awareness of unregulated suppliers operating in this way and clamp down on those providing products that are a real risk to UK consumers.’
Reporting illegal sales
Christian French, chairman of the Association for Independent Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians (AIO), explained that he would also like to see a more proactive approach from the GOC.
He said the AIO were encouraged by the approach to illegal contact sales, but added: 'Both the British Contact Lens Association and ourselves have been active in reporting cases of illegal contact lens sales to the GOC and have been encouraged by their response to there, however we would welcome a greater level of proactivity by the regulator to identify such businesses without having to rely on registrants and optical bodies to bring them to their attention.'