Annual Healthcare Regulators’ Whistleblowing Report 2020 Published

The General Optical Council (GOC) has today joined with seven other healthcare professional regulators to publish the annual report on whistleblowing disclosures.

The report covers the 12 months from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 and shows the GOC received 15 whistleblowing disclosures during that period, all of which were placed in our fitness to practice triage system for formal assessment.

Of the disclosures made to the GOC, seven cases were assessed by our triage team and a decision was made to take no further action as there was not enough information to progress further with the claims. In six of the cases we have taken regulatory action of some description, while a further two disclosures are still subject to assessment and no decision has been made as to what, or if, any regulatory action will be made.

We published the ‘Raising Concerns’ (Whistleblowing) Policy in 2016, offering guidance for registrants and others in the optical sector on raising concerns about risks to patient safety, including where to go for advice and what protection is offered.

This Whistleblowing disclosures report 2020 is published jointly by the GOC with the General Medical Council, General Chiropractic Council, General Dental Council, General Osteopathic Council, General Pharmaceutical Council, Health and Care Professions Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council.