GOC seeks new committee members

The General Optical Council (GOC) is looking to appoint a total of six new registrant members to its statutory committees – four representatives from optical businesses to its Companies Committee and one optometrist and one dispensing optician to its Investigation Committee.

GOC Council chair, Gareth Hadley, said: “Committee members play a vital role in helping us to protect and promote the health and safety of the public and patients. It is important we draw upon the considerable expertise our registrants possess so that we understand developments in the sector and make informed decisions.”

The Companies Committee has a statutory responsibility to advise and assist Council on matters relating to business registrants. The Investigation Committee considers allegations that a registrant may not be fit to practise (where case examiners cannot agree) and referrals from case examiners for an assessment of a registrant’s performance or health. The Investigation Committee makes decisions to refer cases for public hearing, to close cases with no further action (including the issuing of warnings or advice), to direct the GOC Registrar to undertake further investigation or to refer a case for interim order consideration (an interim public protection measure).

The deadline to apply for these vacancies is Monday 18 September.

All roles are on a part-time basis, with a time commitment of approximately three days per annum for the Companies Committee, and approximately five days per annum for the Investigation Committee. The roles are remunerated at £311 per meeting.

Further information on how to apply can be found at https://www.optical.org/en/about_us/working_for_us/index.cfm