CIBA Vision is informing practitioners that patients under 16 years of age will no longer be able to register for its Direct to Patient (DTP) service which offers delivery to home or office because of the recent changes to the Opticians Act.
In a letter being sent out to practices, Marcella McParland, CIBA's head of professional affairs for UK and Ireland, points out that under recent clarification issued by the College of Optometrists, DTP is deemed to be supply under 'general direction' not 'supervision'. According to the revised College guidelines, contact lenses for patients aged under 16 can only be supplied by a registered person or under their supervision, not under general direction.
When registering patients for the DTP service, practitioners will be asked to confirm the patient is aged over 16.
