Revised renewal form available on website

A resolution to the GOC renewal forms saga has taken place after concerns regarding declarations the Council want practitioners to make.

The AOP, in particular, was worried that the General Optical Council had asked for declarations on criminal convictions, mental health and professional insurance policies without details of how this information would be used, or having the powers to do so.

The Council believes it will have the powers from April 1 2005 - the start of the new registration year - to ask registrants regarding these matters, and have done so in advance.

As reported in optician last month, the GOC met with the three optical bodies involved and the solution has led to a set of revised forms published on the Council's website.

The revised forms now introduce the declarations section with the phrase: 'You should be aware that this information may be used by the GOC in relation to any of its statutory functions including the GOC's fitness to practise process'.

The data will, the GOC reassures, 'Éonly make the information providedÉavailable to a third party if it forms part of the published information from the register or if required by law to disclose it'.

In addition, the new forms request this section be filled in, rather than requiring it to be completed.

A spokesman for the GOC said that the electronic set of revised forms could be used in lieu of those previously issued by post.

'The GOC will accept either the previous issued form or the new form downloaded from the website for retention of registration,' said a spokesman for the Council. 'Both will be treated in the same way.'

The deadline for completed GOC retention forms remains March 15.