Moneo writes: Applying the regulations

For a while now I have been trying to come to terms with issues of divulging patient information to relevant people when necessary. Traditionally optometrists may have shared information about patients on a routine basis by means of things such as telephone calls. A common scenario may be checking patients’ NHS sight test eligibility or previous spectacle or contact lens details. Often a new patient may appear in the practice without their old spectacles or without previous contact lens details or having ‘forgotten’ when they last had their eyes tested.

At this point it would have been usual to phone the previous optician and ask for these details. Another common scenario is a patient taking their prescription elsewhere for dispensing and the dispensing outlet requiring clarification phoning the prescribing optician for that clarification. More recently has arisen the legal requirement for contact lens sellers to check and confirm details of contact lens specifications with the prescribing optician before supplying lenses to the purchaser.