ABDO's Peter Black on the right to refract

ABDO is making a strong case for dispensing opticians to win the right to refract, and thereby increase their scope of practice.

The development coincides with the organisation's proposed name change to the British Association of Opticians, which ABDO members will vote on this spring. It also comes as NHS reforms encourage optometrists to migrate towards clinical care functions.

ABDO vice president Peter Black told Optician that gaining the right to refract was very important to 'a significant minority' of ABDO members.

He said: 'Refraction will be similar to contact lenses and low vision, it isn't for everybody; however, I believe the overwhelming majority of the membership support the initiative and would not want to stand in the way of professional colleagues increasing their scope of practice.'