Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) Amendment Regulations 1988 and shall come into force on 11th April 1988.

Amendment of terms of service

2.-(1) Schedule 1 to the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) Regulations 1986(2) (terms of service) shall be amended according to the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) In paragraph 4(1) and (2) (premises and equipment) and paragraph 6(2) (records), in each case, for the words "A contractor" there shall be substituted the words "Subject to paragraph 8(5), a contractor".

(3) In paragraph 7(3) (deputies) there shall be added, at the end, the following words "to the same extent as the contractor for whom he is deputising".

(4) In paragraph 8(5) (employees) there shall be added, at the end, the following words -

• "but only, in the case of paragraphs 4(1) and (2) and 6(2), to the extent that he has not taken all reasonable steps to secure that the requirements of those provisions are met.".

(4) In paragraph 10 (testing of sight) after sub-paragraph (3) there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph -

"(3A) Where a contractor issues to a patient a prescription for glasses, he shall, immediately thereafter, require the patient to acknowledge its receipt on a sight test form.".

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) Regulations 1986 which provide for the arrangements under which ophthalmic medical practitioners and ophthalmic opticians ("contractors") provide general ophthalmic services (ie sight testing services).

Regulation 2 of these Regulations provides that a contractor who is an employee is jointly liable with his employer, to provide suitable accommodation and equipment, to allow inspection of his accommodation and to retain records only where he has not taken reasonable steps to ensure that those obligations are met. Similarly, the liability of a contractor who is acting as a deputy only extends to that of the contractor for whom he is deputising. Regulation 2 further requires a contractor who issues to a patient a prescription for glasses to require the patient to acknowledge its receipt.