GOC meets all PSA Standards of Good Regulation for second year

The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) has today published its review of the General Optical Council’s (GOC) performance in 2022-2023. For the second year in a row, the GOC has met all 18 of the PSA’s Standards of Good Regulation.

The report covers the period between 1 January and 31 December 2023 and highlights several areas of work where the GOC has performed well, including:

• Sustained improvements in the time it takes to progress cases through its fitness to practise system, as well as recognising the further programme of work the GOC will undertake to build on the improvements already made.
• Strong progress made against its equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) action plan 2022-2024, including the use of its data and other evidence to make further positive impacts, such as the publication of a joint statement with stakeholders on zero tolerance to bullying, harassment, abuse and discrimination following the findings of its registrant survey.
• Implementation of its updated education and training requirements (ETR), quality assuring adaptations for more than half of existing providers. The report also acknowledges the GOC’s commitment to support its providers to meet the new requirements by commissioning the Sector Partnership for Optical Knowledge and Education (SPOKE) to establish a knowledge hub.

Chair of Council, Dr Anne Wright CBE, said:

“I am delighted to welcome the PSA’s latest review, which is a culmination of the hard work and dedication of our GOC staff and members to ensure we met all 18 standards for the second year running.

The report is testament to our commitment to maintain the positive changes made in relation to the timeliness of fitness to practise investigations and we will continue to make further improvements.

I’d like to personally thank my fellow Council members and GOC staff in their support to ensure the GOC sustains its overarching mission to protect the public by upholding high standards in the optical professions.” 

Chief Executive and Registrar, Leonie Milliner, said:

“I welcome the outcome of the PSA’s review of our performance between January and December 2023. Meeting all the PSA’s Standards for Good Regulation for a second year provides significant assurance to patients, public and registrants that we are discharging our regulatory responsibilities effectively. We will continue to build on this positive performance review in our ambition to become a world-class regulator.

Our progress in supporting providers of GOC approved qualifications to meet our new education and training requirements has been a notable achievement, alongside our work in EDI and the positive engagement with stakeholders in our work to revise and update our professional standards.

I join the Chair of Council, Dr Anne Wright, in thanking all our staff and members for their contribution in meeting all 18 of the PSA’s Standards of Good Regulation.”

View the full report on the PSA’s website.