AOP urges GOC to listen

Gareth Hadley seeks to reassure registrants in his letter of June 26 and we are delighted to hear that the GOC has had a good response to its consultation on the proposed new standards; we are pleased that the GOC will listen carefully to what its registrants and other stakeholders say to ensure the new standards are proportionate.

We are also pleased that Mr Hadley agrees with the AOP on two major areas of concern: the lack, as yet, of new standards for businesses and the inappropriateness of registration (and therefore GOC regulation) for students.

Currently the Codes of Conduct for registrants apply different standards to individuals and to businesses. So it is not right to say that business registrants ‘must not’ prevent an individual from following GOC standards or exercising their professional judgement. They must only take whatever steps they consider ‘reasonable and proportionate’.