Regulator urges GOC to tackle FTP delays

A review of the General Optical Council's performance as a regulator has offered praise but called for improvements to the fitness to practise system.

The Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) said in its annual performance review that it was concerned about the time taken by the GOC to schedule final fitness to practise hearings.

The GOC's average time from investigation to decision took 57 weeks last year and 'delays in scheduling final fitness to practise hearings can impact upon the quality of the evidence that is available to be considered at those hearings,' the CHRE review said.

It also highlighted a lack of progress in ensuring an appropriate framework was in place to reduce the risk of information breaches at the adjudication stage of its fitness to practise process.