GOC guidance on CL supply to be revised

Revised guidance from the professional bodies on the supervision and general direction of contact lens sales is expected to be issued at the end of January.

The General Optical Council said this week that it was working with the College of Optometrists and ABDO to ensure that guidance to the professions addressed what would be expected of a practitioner in this context. The move follows the GOC's statement on the sale and supply of optical appliances (News, November 3).

The Council has said that when supervising the sale or supply of plano contact lenses 'the supervisor must be able to exercise their professional skill and judgement as a clinician'. However, the British Contact Lens Association is concerned that plano lenses could be supplied as a supervised sale without a fitting or eye examination (Letters, page 11). The GOC told Optician: 'We note the BCLA's concernsand will take these into account in our discussions with the professional bodies.'