Latest College Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Professional Conduct
During the course of professional practice, the optometrist has a duty to refer the patient for appropriate ongoing clinical care and/or management whenever s/he observes a sign or symptom of a condition that cannot be managed within his/her competence and scope of practice, whether the observation is made during the eye examination or at any other time in the course of practice.
The optometrist has a statutory duty under Section 26(2) of the Opticians Act 1989 and the Sight Testing (Examination and Prescription) (No 2) Regulations 1989 to issue, immediately following an eye examination, a prescription or a statement indicating that no prescription is necessary or that no change has been made to an existing prescription.
The optometrist has a duty to prescribe spectacles or contact lenses only when it is in the patient’s best interests to do so.
The optometrist has a duty to ensure hat all optical appliances supplied to patients meet the relevant Standards.
The optometrist has a duty to take due care in the use of drugs in optometric practice and to only supply drugs when it is appropriate to do so. It is good practice for the supply of drugs to normally be made by a pharmacist.