The Federation of (Ophthalmic and Dispensing) Opticians has expressed concerns about new standards of practice for optometrists, dispensing opticians and optical students agreed by the GOC this week.
As reported earlier in the week, new standards will be applied for the profession from April next year.
In reaction, FODO head of policy and strategy Ann Blackmore said: ‘We congratulate the GOC on their thorough public consultation on revised standards for individual registrants. We will of course want to examine these in detail. But we welcome the fact that following consultation many of the sector's representations have been taken into account.
‘We do however remain concerned about the way in which some of the Francis recommendations have been included, particularly the duty of candour. Recommendations designed for cases of serious harm must be appropriately applied in community optics and we feel the GOC’s interpretation here may not get the balance right.
‘Transparency and openness are important but good regulation shouldn’t create unnecessary financial burdens that harm practices without contributing to better patient care.
‘We also believe more could have been done to reduce duplication, which we think would have helped make the standards clearer and more accessible. Nevertheless, we now look forward to working with the regulator and sector partners to help implement the standards and develop further guidance where necessary.’
More analysis to follow in Optician.