It seems that the media have two very different approaches to eye care and eyewear. On one hand they are proactive in publicising the need for eye health issues and on the other hand indulge in incessant optician bashing over the price of spectacles and encouraging people to buy on the internet. Irrespective of whether or not the internet sale of spectacles is illegal, competition is to be encouraged and people have the right to choose where they buy. The difference for the supplier is that professionals are surrounded by regulation but online and other unregistered retailers have no such restrictions and customers must rely on caveat emptor.
The latest attack appeared in The Mail on Sunday. The article is inaccurate in that it says online retailers cannot supply to children unless they are regulated and registered with the Association of British Dispensing Opticians. It appears that information may have come from one of ABDO's own members, Tony Russell, who is a director at SelectSpecs. He maintains that few customers find their glasses don't fit after buying online. 'Those who have not had glasses before may want to try a few pairs first in an optician to be sure that they start off with the right size of frame,' he is quoted as saying. I'm sure that his colleagues in ABDO will really appreciate that. It is surprising that the GOC does not take an interest in its registrants who ignore ethical guidance from their professional bodies and apparent contravention of the Opticians Act which requires a standard of care that must be provided face to face.
One only has to look around at spectacle wearers to see the number of badly fitted frames and there are also many patients dissuaded from varifocals by either bad designs or inaccurate measurements. Hopefully these are not generated by dispensing opticians or optometrists, the most likely culprits being untrained or poorly trained and poorly supervised assistants. While there is nothing wrong in delegating unregulated tasks to non-professionals, indeed it is sensible to do so, the person who delegates must ensure that the person is suitably qualified. At present there are no nationally accepted qualifications for either optical or optometric assistants. Courses are run by the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers and some colleges and universities and there are in-house schemes organised by some of the major chains. If the profession and public are to have confidence in staff with these qualifications they must be fit for purpose. Unfortunately this does not always appear to be the case. EDI has developed a level two and level three diploma in optical retail skills at the behest of Boots. Regrettably it appears to be possible to obtain the diplomas without demonstrating any optical skills! ?