Illegal practice strategy review

Closed 24 Jan 2022

Opened 27 Oct 2021

Contact

Illegal Practice

lc@optical.org

lc@optical.org

Feedback updated 30 Jun 2022

We asked

The GOC’s overarching objective is the protection of the public. Although not a specific statutory duty, or part of our core functions, we may act on reports about alleged illegal optical practice (illegal practice) when necessary to protect the public.

Illegal practice is conduct that amounts to a criminal offence under Part IV of the Opticians Act 1989 ('the Act'). We carried out a review of our illegal practice strategy and protocol because we wanted to be more proactive in our approach to illegal practice and provide clarity on when we will take action and what action will be taken.

We undertook a full public consultation on our proposed updates to the policy, which was open for 12 weeks from 27 October 2021 to 24 January 2022. We consulted on an updated illegal practice protocol which included the following changes:

  • the addition of acceptance criteria;
  • setting out our approach to illegal online sales;
  • requiring early lawyer input into investigations;
  • the introduction of a process for test purchases; and
  • greater clarity about when we will consider a prosecution.

You said

We received 26 written consultation responses from a range of stakeholders including optical representative organisations and our registrants.

Key findings from the consultation were:

  • 42% agreed or strongly agreed that the updated protocol links more closely with our overarching objective of protecting the public (the same percentage disagreed);
  • 42% agreed or strongly agreed that the updated protocol will improve sector awareness of our remit regarding illegal optical practice;
  • 58% agreed or strongly agreed that the updated protocol will provide clarity on when we will act and what action will be taken;
  • 61% felt that there were matters unclear or missing from the protocol; and
  • 62% felt there were no aspects of the updated protocol that could discriminate against stakeholders with specific characteristics.

We did

Based on feedback received during the consultation we have decided to make the following amendments to the protocol that we consulted on:

  • potential for serious harm has been included as a factor indicating higher risk in addition to actual harm caused by illegal practice;
  • the case assessor and/or reviewing lawyer will seek advice from the GOC’s clinical advisers about clinical risk in appropriate cases;
  • sections about legislation relating to the testing of sight and sale of prescription spectacles have been made clearer; and
  • provision that the GOC may re-open a complaint following a referral to a third party if the third party is unable to act and the statutory time limit for bringing a prosecution has not expired

Further detail about the amendments and the areas we considered are in our GOC response to the consultation located in the 'files' section below (see pages 15-18 for the conclusions). An impact assessment is also available.

We published the updated protocol on our website on 29 June 2022: https://optical.org/en/publications/illegal-practice-protocol/  

Overview

We are consulting on a revised illegal practice protocol which is available in the ‘related’ section at the end of this page. 

The GOC’s overarching objective is the protection of the public. Although not a specific statutory duty, we may act on reports about alleged illegal optical practice when necessary to protect the public.

Illegal optical practice (illegal practice) is conduct that amounts to a criminal offence under Part IV of the Opticians Act 1989 (the Act).

Our illegal practice strategy and protocol were last reviewed in 2015. Our current approach is reactive to complaints being received. We believe we can better use our resource to develop a strategy that links more closely with our overarching public protection function and enhance sector and public awareness of our remit.

We have carried out a review of our illegal practice strategy and protocol because we want to be more proactive in our approach to illegal practice and provide clarity on when we will take action and what action will be taken. We believe that more collaborative working to prevent illegal practice from occurring provides the best outcome for the public and our sector.  

The revised illegal practice protocol is available in the ‘related’ section at the end of this page. The main changes are: 

  • the addition of acceptance criteria;  
  • setting out our approach to illegal online sales; 
  • requiring early lawyer input into investigations; 
  • the introduction of a process for test purchases; and 
  • greater clarity about when we will consider a prosecution. 

An impact assessment is also included in the ‘related’ section at the end of this page.

Why your views matter

We believe that the revised illegal practice protocol will enable us to:

  • be clearer about our remit;
  • be clearer about when the GOC can bring prosecutions, and when alternatives to prosecution will be the preferred route, and why;
  • collaborate more widely to help prevent illegal practice from occurring.

We would like to hear your views on the updated illegal practice protocol before we implement the revised approach early next year.

The public consultation will last for a period of 12 weeks.