New disciplinary procedures will be 'fairer to registrants'

A piece of optical history will be made at a London hearing later this month, when a Wigan practitioner aims to be restored to the Opticians Register.

The September 26 GOC inquiry will be the first in which a hearing panel is drawn from a new group of 40 individuals, both lay and professional, selected entirely from outside the Council. The development follows the summer's Section 60 Order, and the changes came into force on June 30.

Until now, hearing panels had been made up from the GOC's disciplinary committee, which itself is made up of GOC Council members. This method will continue with ongoing cases - such as that on September 27 (see the column story on this page) - but increasingly the new fitness to practise system will come into effect.

A spokeswoman for the GOC said: 'The new system is better as it is fairer to registrants and designed to maximise public safety and satisfaction of complainants.

'Internally we have restructured so that investigation processes are entirely separate from the management of hearings, and the changes are part of the GOC's ongoing efforts to modernise optical regulation.'

However the Foster Review is looking at the possibility of a fully independent, shared fitness to practise panel, in cooperation with other regulatory bodies.

The first case using the new panel involves Razia Khan, who was struck off 12 months ago for stealing thousands of pounds from her employer.

At the October 2004 GOC disciplinary hearing the dispensing optician was charged that while a registered optician she was convicted by a court of a criminal offence.

Khan admitted the charge that she was convicted of four counts of theft at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates Court on February 13 2004.