Professional Matters Optometry & Dispensing
The College’s response to GOC Thematic Review plus FODO Response
The College responds to the GOC’s thematic review of commercial practices and patient safety
Professor Irene Ctori FCOptom, President of The College of Optometrists, commented, “We welcome the opportunity to work with the GOC and other sector bodies to respond to this review and the College will continue to play a key role in driving positive change. We are already taking proactive action to address concerns through our evidence-based review of the College’s Guidance for Professional Practice, which will be published at the end of this year.
Following consultation with members and the sector, the updated Guidance will include a new section on culture and governance, setting out the expectation that employers should not use scheduling methods that compromise patient safety. We will host professional development webinars and provide resources to support registrants in understanding and implementing the updated Guidance for Professional Practice throughout 2027.
“The College particularly welcomes the announcement of a review of the GOC’s Standards for Optical Businesses to ensure that clinical care and the patient’s best interests should always take precedence, as well as emphasising that optical businesses support registrants’ health and wellbeing.
The patient’s best interests should be at the heart of every clinical recommendation, as is reflected in our Guidance for Professional Practice and our ongoing member support, advice and learning activities.
“While the GOC’s review recognises that funding is outside of the GOC’s jurisdiction, we must also acknowledge that sustainable and adequate national and local investment is required, across the UK, to ensure and maintain the delivery of safe and effective clinical eye care services and professional education.”
FODO Response
We are pleased to see that the findings acknowledge the work of the sector in delivering high-quality, ethical and patient-centred care each and every day.
However, we are not complacent. The report highlights that while patient satisfaction and public confidence are consistently high, GOC registrant survey data show that some registrants have concerns about pressures they face in their practice, including the time available for sight tests and performance targets. We are clear that the care of patients and their safety must always come first.
We will review the findings in more detail and consider what we can do to address them, for example by refreshing guidance to support our members.
Sarah Joyce, FODO chair, said: “FODO members are committed to providing exemplary standards of care and service for their patients. We are pleased to see that the GOC has reported high levels of patient satisfaction and no evidence of any harm to patients from the model of primary eye care across the UK. However, as a community of eye care providers we will reflect on the review’s findings and continue to support our members and their teams to deliver excellent patient care, including helping individual registrants to speak up when they have concerns using the channels we have in place.”
Read GOC Thematic Summary and links here
