Fitness to practise changes designed to speed up the handling process of complaints came into force this week.
A team of 15 case examiners, 10 registrants and five lay people, has been appointed and was said to be one of the key changes under the new rules. Pairs of case examiners (one registrant and one lay) would work together to decide whether a case should be referred to a fitness to practise hearing.
The GOC’s Investigation Committee, which considers all complaints, will continue to decide on cases where the case examiners did not agree or where a formal assessment of a registrant’s health or performance was required.
Other changes included a greater ability for the regulator to fast-track cases by allowing the registrar to refer the most serious cases directly for a fitness to practise hearing.
Mandie Lavin, GOC director of regulation said the new rules would help it better protect the public by acting on complaints more quickly. ‘This will also benefit registrants by shortening what can be a long and stressful process,’ she said.