24 October 2024
The General Optical Council (GOC) has opened a 12-week consultation seeking views on a new model for its business regulation requirements.
The model proposes that regulation would be extended to all businesses providing specified restricted functions, including sight testing, contact lens fitting, the supply of contact lenses, and spectacle sales to under 16s and those who are registered sight impaired or severely sight impaired.
The main consultation proposals, which would require legislative reform, also include: removing the current legislative requirement for some categories of body corporates to have a majority of registrant directors; creating a model of assurance that includes requiring registrants to nominate a head of optical practice who has overall responsibility for the conduct of the business, in accordance with the GOC’s regulatory arrangements; replacing the maximum fine of £50,000 with an uncapped penalty for business registrants receiving a sanction following a hearing and introducing a power to visit a business; and making participation in the Optical Consumer Complaints Service mandatory.
In announcing that the consultation is now live, the GOC highlighted that as of 31 March this year it had 2852 business registrants.
GOC director of regulatory strategy, Steve Brooker, explained that in 2022, the regulator opened a call for evidence and consultation on the Opticians Act and associated policies.
He shared: “The proposals for an updated framework of business regulation, featured in the consultation launching today, are the next step in our journey towards becoming a modern, flexible, and agile regulator.”
Brooker noted that the “current framework has resulted in an outdated, complex, and piecemeal system, where only around half of optical businesses are regulated by the GOC,” which “creates a public protection gap and an uneven playing field for businesses.”
He added: “It has become clear that effective public protection requires regulation of both eye care professionals and the clinical and commercial environments in which they deliver care.
“Our proposals aim to strengthen public protection, provide a fairer trading environment for businesses, and support the planned shift in care from hospitals to communities.”
The consultation is open from today (23 October) until 22 January 2025. To respond, visit the GOC online consultation platform or email its consultations team.
Read more about the proposals in OT’s report from the GOC’s latest Council meeting.
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