2023 archived consultation: Statement on verification of contact lens specifications and definition of aftercare

We asked

Delivering a commitment made following our call for evidence on the Opticians Act 1989 (‘the Act’) in 2022, we issued a draft statement for consultation setting out our view that:

· verification of a copy of a contact lens specification is no longer necessary, provided that the specification is clear, does not contain any obvious errors and has not obviously been tampered with; and

· a definition of aftercare should be provided that gives sufficient detail to ensure the public is protected.

We undertook a full public consultation on our proposed statement, which was open for eight weeks from 29 August to 24 October 2023. We asked respondents a range of questions, including whether they agreed with the content of the statement, whether they felt there was anything unclear or missing, any unintended consequences and what the impacts of the statement might be (particularly relating to discrimination).

You said

We received 39 written consultation responses from a range of stakeholders including individual registrants and optical representative organisations. Overall, there was support for the statement from our stakeholders, although the optical professional/representative bodies were divided in their opinion about the need for a definition of aftercare and had concerns about aspects of this part of the statement. There were suggestions for additions and amendments, particularly from the optical professional/representative bodies.

We did

Our GOC response to our consultation on statement on verification of contact lens specifications and definition of aftercare is available in the files section below, together with an updated impact assessment. We have published the verification statement here.

In summary, based on the feedback, we decided only to go ahead with the section of the statement that relates to verification of contact lens specifications. This reflects concerns expressed on the aftercare section of the statement and the availability of existing guidance from professional bodies on this issue.

In relation to verification, we made the following amendments to the statement based on feedback received during the consultation (see our response for more information):

· making it clear that ‘in-date’ means that the expiry date must not have passed and that a specification becomes invalid after its expiry date;

· making it clear that where the conditions in paragraph 3 of the statement are not met, verification is still required;

· removing the word ‘our’ from in front of the word ‘registrants’ in paragraph 5 of the statement (so that registered medical practitioners would not be excluded from co-operating with requests for verification); and

· clarifying the position in respect of zero powered contact lenses – the verification requirement does not apply to zero powered contact lenses and that zero powered contact lenses can be sold only by or under the supervision of a dispensing optician, optometrist or registered medical practitioner.

We decided to remove the 2006 statement on the sale and supply of optical appliances. We remain of the view that it is not required because the definition of supervision is already contained within our Standards of Practice for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians which were published in 2006 (and are currently in the process of being reviewed) and the professional bodies produced guidance since this statement was published. We have since produced frequently asked questions on the contact lens legislation which we consider cover the points above regarding zero powered contact lenses, supervision and general direction.

Files

· GOC response to our consultation on statement on verification of contact lens specifications and definition of aftercare (PDF Document)
· Updated impact assessment – verification and aftercare statement (PDF Document)

Published responses

Where consent has been given to publish responses (either with or without names), we have collated the responses into one document (PDF Document).