New rules on supply

General Optical Council member Professor Roger Buckley reviewed the latest issues arising from the GOC, including the new legislation governing contact lens supply and therapeutic prescribing. His view was that the recent amendments to the Opticians Act were not a threat, but would improve and widen the scope of optometric practice and establish equivalent opportunities for dispensing opticians.

Professor Roger Buckley: ammendments not a threat

Professor Buckley said that patients wanted to buy contact lenses from a variety of sources, including the internet, and to 'shop around'. Sales occurring outside the UK could not be regulated. A failure to recognise these cultural and commercial realities would undoubtedly have led to deregulation of contact lens sales, he said. 

The new regulations allowed contact lens supply under the 'general direction' of a qualified practitioner rather than requiring the 'supervision' of
sales. Professor Buckley said that these terms were yet to be fully tested in law but he predicted that case law would be established fairly soon.

The likely effects of the changes to contact lens supply were also discussed by representatives of the profession and industry at 'Breakfast with Hodd', hosted by optometrist Nigel Burnett Hodd (News, June10). Opinions were divided on the likely uptake by consumers of alternative supply routes such as supermarkets. Mr Burnett Hodd urged practitioners not to drop their prices but to emphasise the value of the services and care that they provided.