GOC urges registrants to submit applications

With only five weeks left until the General Optical Council's (GOC) March 15 retention deadline, 67 per cent of registrants have yet to return their retention applications.

The GOC said on February 8 that it had still only received 6,503 applications, with 13,253 applications still outstanding.

For the first time practitioners and businesses can track their applications online using the new registrants' area on the GOC website, www.optical.org. The new functionality enables registrants to check the status of their application, and to download a pre-filled form, retention receipt, and confirmation for their employer.

Highlighting the importance of registration, Dian Taylor, GOC chief executive and registrar, said: 'I urge registrants to act now and complete the application process to avoid the problems and penalties that come with failing to meet the retention deadlines.'