Chris Bennett: Let's have some common sense

“It’s a funny old world where a GP murdering patients in Hyde and others being neglected in Mid Staffs ricochet onto the low-risk world of optics.”

These were the words of David Hewlett, chief executive of FODO, in response to the closure of the consultation on the GOC’s draft Standards of Practice for practitioners. It neatly sums up the responses from all of the interested parties.  A united, frustrated call for some common sense and proportionality.

Taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut, over-complication and risk aversion are the modern ailments of regulating classes. But you have to have some sympathy for the GOC which is subject to its own regulators’ regulator.