Proposals for General Optical Council strategy up to 2030 were noted at the second Council meeting of the year on June 28 at the regulator’s Old Bailey offices.
Between 2025 and 2030, a period where the optometric sector in the UK could see significant regulatory change as a result of the GOC’s call for evidence, the Council said the strategy had the working title of ‘Shaping the Future’ and would replace the current strategy, titled, ‘Fit for the Future.’
The Council said it would use the Chartered Management Institute’s strategy development ten-point checklist in the development of its own strategy. This included, understanding its current position and reflection on how it got there, having a clear vision of its corporate identity, strength and weakness analysis and an assessment of the business environment.
External factors, which the GOC said would influence the direction of the strategic plan, included potential expansion of business registration and legislative reform, an uncertain political environment with a general election likely before the rollout of the new plan in 2025, and continued growth in delivery of optometry services and sale of optical appliances.
Highlighting the sector’s chance to have its say, the GOC commented: ‘There will be opportunities for the public, registrants, committee members, GOC employees and other key stakeholders to shape the new strategy. The timeline will be further refined as this engagement takes place.’
Call for evidence next steps
Following a call for evidence and consultation on the GOC policies process between March and July 2022, the timeline for development of the specific areas of work that were identified in the evidence submissions were rubber-stamped at the meeting.
Three workstreams were identified by the GOC. The first, a consultation on position statements relating to the verification of contact lens specification and spectacle prescription and the definition of aftercare, was expected to begin in autumn 2023.
A review of GOC standards in the areas of dispensing to vulnerable patients and use of technology, was scheduled for winter 2024 and a consultation on developing a new model for business registration was slated to begin in spring 2024.
Following the consultations, the GOC said it would consult on other areas of work it deemed ‘technical and less urgent,’ such as the definition of low vision, wording of protected titles, and regulations related to criteria for visual impairment.
The regulator also delivered a warning to anyone that expected swift progress on meaningful change: ‘It may be some years before the GOC’s legislation is reformed, with a consultation from the Department of Health and Social Care on GOC legislation anticipated no later than 2026-27, subject to external events.’
Consumer complaints
The Optical Consumer Complaints Service (OCCS), which has been delivered by law firm Nockolds since 2014, used the meeting to present its annual report 2022-23.
The report, titled Mediation and the New Normal, was the third since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the first to fully include the cost of living crisis.
It showed a 2% decrease (1,707) in the overall number of complaints dealt with by the OCCS between April 2022 and March 2023, pointing towards satisfaction remaining stable. However, a 10% increase was shown (54.1% overall) in the number of complaints relating to the sale of goods and services, highlighting a change in thinking among patients, with expectations increasing dramatically, while tolerance of faulty products or poor service fell sharply.
OCCS data showed complaints relating to goods and services had increased by 20% in the past two years, due to shifts in consumer tolerance following the pandemic and cost of living pressures that have since followed.
Further evidence that showed the cost of living crisis was influencing the outcome sought by the complainant was an 86% increase in the number of patients seeing compensation for alleged negligence by the optical professional.
‘Analysis of the complaints in the category do not suggest that we are seeing more potentially negligent care. Indeed, the growing number of consumers who insist that their dispute can only be resolved by way of financial remuneration is a clear sign that economic hardship is surfacing in the sector,’ noted the OCCS in its report.