An annual report by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) has expressed concern about a decline in the median time the General Optical Council takes to make an interim order decision.
The health body said the GOC performance in the period between receiving a complaint and an interim order being made must improve in order to meet future standards.
New fitness to practise (FTP) rules rolled out by the GOC in April were expected to lead to improved performance though, it was noted.
GOC chair Gareth Hadley said: ‘We are very encouraged to receive a positive report from the Professional Standards Authority across all of our core functions. However we are determined to drive further improvement, particularly in realising the benefit of our new FTP rules to help speed up the time in which we deal with complaints.’
The authority reported being pleased at the high level of compliance from registrants with the GOC’s new CET scheme. It found that the GOC met all 24 of its Standards of Good Regulation during 2013/14.
Hadley added: ‘It’s also great to see the authority recognise the efforts that registrants have made in engaging with our enhanced CET scheme. We will continue to work closely with the authority to explore how we can work together to protect and promote public health and safety.’
The report added that the GOC itself acknowledged that it may have been overly confident in the scale of the programme of work it set itself in recent years, and the additional financial costs incurred to support its delivery. As a result it had devised its strategic plan for 2014/15 to 2016/17 by concentrating on setting realistic and deliverable goals.