A call to report any breaches of lockdown rules has been made after the Association of Independent Opticians met with the General Optical Council.
In a meeting with Lesley Longstone, CEO of the GOC, the AIO clarified that no routine eye examinations or sight tests should have been conducted between March 23 and June 15.
The AIO believes there may have been multiple breaches in this period and has invited the optical community to provide evidence as any practice who breached those rules would be subject to fitness to practise proceedings.
Dr Christian French, chairman of the AIO, said: ‘It should never be acceptable that a business goes against the direct advice of our regulatory body, whose rules are put in place for public safety. Such behaviour suggests severely misplaced priorities around public safety, going against the very principles of our profession.'
