Registration cards for all optometrists and dispensing opticians will be distributed with the General Optical Council's newsletter Bulletin this week.
But the wallet-sized cards which are printed with the registrant's name, GOC number, registration category and renewal deadline have received a lukewarm response from the profession.
Optometrist Simon Browning in Bedford said: 'If the card is useful and works I would only be too glad to embrace it, but I would be interested to find out what patients think about the idea. It seems like an awful lot of effort and I should imagine a reasonable cost to provide something that I can't think will achieve much. And I'm going to need a bigger wallet.'
Nigel Burnett Hodd, private contact lens practitioner from London, said: 'In 40 years of practice I've never had a patient ask if I'm registered and I've never known a patient to go online to check. I think it would be more useful if the GOC brought back the starring system in the register to indicate who has a DCLP specialist qualification.'
Optometrist Jean Donnelly from A&J Optometrists in Thetford described the cards as 'unnecessary' and optometrist Gillian Whitby of Whitby & Co in Fleet Street, London, added: 'I don't think this has been clearly thought out and I can't see the point. Decent practitioners have certificates on their walls.'
GOC registrar Peter Coe said: 'These cards are not proof of registration, but they will make it easier for patients to check their optician is registered. All information they need to search our online registers or to contact our registration team directly is readily available.'
GOC communications manager Kate Fielding explained that similar cards are circulating elsewhere in Europe for other regulated health professions and that they are intended to provide reassurance for patients and to increase public confidence and trust.
'There is no compulsion to carry the cards,' she explained, 'But we hope they will help practitioners demonstrate to patients that they are registered and we will be keen to hear feedback in the future.'