Sales targets and incentives: What we’re hearing and why it matters
As part of our ongoing thematic review into commercial practices and patient safety, we’re turning our attention to sales targets and incentives in the eye care sector. We want to hear views from across the sector on any positive impacts or negative effects of these targets.
About the review
The commercial nature of eye care services is an inherent feature of the sector. When it operates well, it brings benefits for patients including innovation that widens access to services and improves the quality of care. However, our research and wider engagement have highlighted that commercial practices may potentially pose a risk to patients and put undue pressure on registrants.
The aim of our review is to help us understand the nature and extent of these practices and their impacts, and to identify any interventions that we and the wider sector can take to help mitigate against these.
The review brings together a number of elements, including engagement with stakeholders, professional and representative organisations, businesses and registrants from across the sector, analysis of GOC and external data and qualitative research. At the end of our thematic review, we will bring together all of this information to produce a report with recommendations to address any issues identified.
What we already know
Findings from our 2025 registrant survey show that some registrants have concerns about sales targets:
- 33% of respondents said they felt under pressure to sell certain types of glasses or contact lenses that would earn more money for the business
- 30% reported feeling under pressure to meet targets at the expense of patient care
- 22% said they had felt under pressure to sell a product or provide a service they believed was not needed by the patient
Registrants who said they experienced this were more likely to report difficulties in providing patients with the care they needed.
Who we’re talking to
It’s important that we listen to different perspectives and gather a wide range of evidence – that’s why as part of our thematic review we will be engaging with business leaders, optical sector and patient organisations and patient bodies, as well as GOC registrants.
Take part
This is an important opportunity to have your say and be part of our research. You can give us your views either in response to our post on LinkedIn, or through this short survey.
