Letter: IP - the College responds

The points I made in Optician’s October Workplace supplement (click here to read my article) suggested that optometrists working in the community should also look to develop their competence in practice when treating patients therapeutically.

With increasing scope of practice and clinical competence comes the ability to make a hugely positive difference to patients’ lives. However, we must also recognise it gives us more opportunity to do harm. For that reason, it is incumbent on leaders in the field to make clear the need to take steps to ensure patient safety as clinician autonomy increases.

As the writers in this letter - click here to read it - state, prescribing should not exist in isolation. The diagnosis and management of disease and the prescribing of drugs are intrinsically linked, but separate skill sets and medicines are just one form of treatment that may, or may not, be appropriate for a patient. The recently published RPS Competency Framework includes diagnosis and the effectiveness of treatment and is used as a basis for the curricula for prescribing courses, but it is also intended for use by qualified prescribers so they can show how they have developed their practice in all the areas contained within it.