GOC gains charity status

Optical regulator the General Optical Council has been registered as a charity following an application designed to reduce costs for the organisation.

Approval from the Charity Commission was confirmed at this week's public Council meeting at the Royal Institute of British Architects, in London.

Ongoing work would be needed to ensure the necessary processes and structures were in place to meet the requirements of charitable status, the GOC said.

This included training for new and existing Council members on their revised role as trustees of the charity, but did not require any fundamental change to its public protection duty.

Of the other UK healthcare regulators, the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council were also registered charities, it noted.