Sinead Burns has been appointed as the newest lay member of the General Optical Council (GOC).
Sinead will join the GOC Council on 1 October 2016.
GOC Chair Gareth Hadley welcomed the announcement, saying: “I am delighted to welcome Sinead to Council. Sinead brings a wealth of experience of healthcare and public protection, as an occupational psychologist and through her work at the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland. I look forward to working closely with Sinead and drawing on her insight to help us in our work of serving the interests of the public in the optical sector.”
Sinead Burns said: “I am delighted to join the GOC. The optical sector is continuing to evolve as a result of new technology and an ageing population, and it is important that regulation adapts and enables developments in eye care that benefit patients. I look forward to working alongside my fellow Council members and GOC staff to further the Council’s vital public protection work.”
Sinead is an occupational psychologist and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Sinead served as Commissioner for Judicial Appointments in Northern Ireland from 2005 until 2013 and is Vice President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI). She will step down from her role at the PSNI on 30 September.
In March 2016, Sinead was appointed by Her Majesty The Queen as a Civil Service Commissioner for Northern Ireland. Sinead is also a Lay Magistrate and a Lay Representative within the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency.”
The appointment was confirmed by the Privy Council after the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) confirmed that the GOC’s recruitment process was appropriate.
Sinead will replace outgoing Council member Brian Coulter, whose term finishes on 30 September 2016.