The General Optical Council appoints Kathryn Foreman as lay Council member

The General Optical Council (GOC) has today announced Kathryn Foreman as a new lay Council member, beginning on 1 October. She was appointed by the Privy Council, and will succeed Sinead Burns, whose two terms of office finish at the end of September. 

A qualified lawyer, Kathryn followed a career as a solicitor in local government before moving to become the first female non-operational deputy chief officer in the country at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, where she worked extensively in local, regional and national organisational development. Her non-executive career to date has included a six-year term at the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC) where she also chaired registration appeal panels. She is a member of the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) Assurance and Appointments Committee, a non-executive director at Primary Care 24 Ltd, a social enterprise delivering NHS services in the North of England, and sits on police misconduct panels. 

Dr Anne Wright OBE, Chair of Council, said: 

“I am delighted to welcome Kathryn as a new Council member. She brings wide experience in a variety of roles, and her expertise in healthcare regulation and as a non-executive director for a healthcare provider will be invaluable to the work of the Council and the GOC. 

Kathryn joins the GOC at a critical time, as we prepare to launch our new strategy for 2025-30 which will continue our vital work of protecting the public by upholding high standards in the optical professions. I look forward to working with her.

I would also like to thank Sinead Burns for her outstanding contribution to the GOC during her period of office.” 

Kathryn Foreman said: 

“I am delighted to be joining the GOC’s Council. I am passionate about public service being the best that it can be, equally accessible to all and it continuously improving and evolving, and I look forward to working with the GOC’s leadership to launch and deliver the new strategy, where this ethos will be a key part of ensuring safe and effective eyecare for all”.