Sight test delegation raises serious concerns

Serious concerns about delegating elements of the sight test were raised by 64% of Association of Optometrists (AOP) members who responded to a survey on the Opticians Act.

Of the 2,445 respondents, only 5% indicated that delegation was safe and 29% said it would only be safe under strict guidelines.

Separation of refraction and the eye health check of the sight test could not be done safely, according to 87% of AOP members.

Adam Sampson, chief executive at the AOP, said: ‘We are extremely grateful to all our members who have taken part in this important survey. This group is a significant percentage of the GOC’s registrants, and as such it is vital that their views must be listened to carefully by the regulator.’