News

Fourteen new committee members have been appointed by the General Optical Council to sit on its statutory registration and investigation committees, although a number of vacancies remain.

The committees have been created as a result of reforms to all UK healthcare regulatory bodies, requiring them to allow committees to play a crucial role in providing advice and assistance (News 18.9.09).

Members of the registration committee will advise the GOC on a variety of issues relating to registration, while the investigation committee members will consider evidence about fitness to practise complaints and decide what course of action to take.

GOC chief executive and registrar Dian Taylor said: 'The registration and investigation committees play a pivotal role in the decisions that affect both registrants and the public. We had a very positive response to the recruitment campaign, resulting in a large number of high-calibre applicants to both committees. Council members and GOC staff look forward to working with the new committee members, to deliver proportionate and transparent regulation of the optical professions.'

Dispensing opticians Michelle Derbyshire and Kim Devlin and optometrists Janice McCrudden and Bina Patel have been appointed to the registration committee. The lay members approved to sit on the committee were Gary Ames, Susan Lee Elsmore and GOC director of communications and information Kate Fielding (chair), while a vacancy remains for a responsible officer of a registered body corporate.

Vacancies remain on the investigation committee for a DO and an optometrist to join DO Keith Cavaye, optometrists Lisa Gerson and Kamlesh Gohil and ophthalmologist Stuart Roxburgh. Lay members are Stuart Heatherington, James Kellock and Michael Yates.

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