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Do you have a complaint about an optometrist or dispensing optician?

The Board does not have authority to investigate consumer complaints in the first instance.  If you have a complaint about an optometrist or dispensing optician, you should contact the Health and Disability Commissioner which is the authority responsible for managing these complaints, on 0800 11 22 33.   For more information on the HDC's work, visit the website http://www.hdc.org.nz

The role of the Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Board

The Board's role is to ensure that optometrists and dispensing opticians are competent and fit to practise their professions.  The Board does so under the provisions of section 118 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (the Act).  Its work includes:

• prescribing qualifications required for practitioners to register, and monitoring the educational institutions that provide those qualifications
• authorising the registration of optometrists and dispensing opticians
• considering applications for annual practising certificates
• reviewing and promoting the competence of optometrists and dispensing opticians
• considering concerns about an individual optometrist or dispensing optician's competence, and advising appropriate authorities where the Board believes a practitioner it regulates poses a risk of harm to the public
• considering cases where an optometrist or dispensing optician's physical or mental health may impact on their ability to perform the functions required to practise their profession
• setting standards of clinical competence, cultural competence and ethical conduct

If you have any questions about the Board's work, feel free to contact us.