In focus: How the plans will be put into action

The purpose of the GOC’s Draft Strategic Plan for 2020 to 2026 was to enable the Council to consider a strategic plan before any further consultation within the optical sector. It has increased from the usual three-year plan to six years, as this will allow for two CET cycles and for the implementation of the Education Strategic Review (ESR).

Council members requested that clear milestones be set up three years into the plan so they can see how the plan is taking shape.

The mission statement of the Draft Strategic Plan according to the GOC is ‘to protect the public by continually raising standards of practice in the optical professions’, which reflects the fact that it ‘impacts on public safety through raising standards within the professions we regulate’. The GOC said: ‘The word continually was added following feedback from our advisory panel who felt that without, it could be read negatively, as if standards were not already high. We feel this new wording is a better reflection of what we believe to be the case, ie that standards are high, but that the professions need to continuously improve to ensure they remain high in an environment of rapidly changing technology, an evolving commissioning landscape and increasing customer service expectations.’