Relying on the law is not the answer to tackling illegal contact lens sales, British Contact Lens Association members heard this week.
Speaking at the BCLA Pioneers & Visionaries Conference in London, the General Optical Council’s director of policy and communications Alistair Bridge told delegates: ‘Even if we changed and tightened the law, we’d still be left with the problem of people being able to supply from outside the UK.’
The GOC would continue to deal with complaints in line with its prosecution protocol but the new approach was designed to be proactive rather than reactive, Bridge said.
His comments came on the day the GOC published a statement on the outcome of its consultation this year on illegal practices such as online CL sales that do not comply with UK law, unlawful supply of cosmetic CLs and misuse of protected titles. Bridge said the research showed that certain types of illegal practice could cause significant risks to public health. He added that the new strategy would take a multi-pronged approach to reducing public harm. The GOC would develop a code of practice for online suppliers who would be incentivised by a logo to identify those following good practice.
A consumer campaign would raise awareness among CL wearers on how to purchase and wear CLs safely, highlighting the need to follow aftercare advice and have regular check-ups. And collaboration with other bodies such as Trading Standards would be strengthened.
The GOC was also setting up a stakeholder group to help implement the strategy, chaired by past president of the College of Optometrists Dr Rob Hogan and with Richard Edwards, former director of professional services and learning at Boots Opticians, as consultant.
BCLA delegates raised concerns that, without statutory powers, the GOC ‘lacked teeth’ and were told consumer campaign funding would need ‘input from across the sector’.
Bridge will report on progress over the next six months when he presents at the BCLA Clinical Conference, at the ACC Liverpool (May 29-31 2015). Launched this week, the three-day programme will be more compact, feature a day dedicated to myopia management and offer free workshops.