GOC to pilot revalidation scheme

A government driven system for all health regulators to introduce 'periodic' revalidation of all registrants will be piloted by the General Optical Council (GOC) between July and December 2009, Optician has learnt.

Details of how such a scheme will work in the optical sector have yet to be finalised by the Council, but the requirement is part of the White Paper changes aimed at giving patients reassurance that medical professionals treating them are fit to practise.

Commenting on this development, a GOC spokesperson told Optician: 'It's too early talk about how any scheme would work. We are waiting for a national working group on revalidation to publish its report which is due out in the coming weeks and sets out the principles that they think that regulators should be using in implementation of a scheme.