Verum writes

I believe we should support the increase. A profession needs a strong and effective regulatory body and the GOC’s mission to protect the public by promoting high standards of education and conduct among opticians in modern healthcare, will require a certain size of organisation with the associated costs. As the GOC financial accounts are there for everybody to see, we can see where the money goes and we can be confident the increased fees represent the workload and cost that the GOC faces.

We do need, however, to remind the GOC that they are spending registrants’ money and so there must be constant vigilance. It is interesting to note comments made by Niall Dickson in his final report on implementation of the White Paper, Trust, assurance and safety: enhancing confidence in healthcare professional regulation. The regulator must be seen to give value for money by those who pay.

Looking wider to other regulators, how do we compare? In 2009, dentists paid £438, medics £410 and pharmacy £413. In comparison the GOC looks to give good value. However, look further afield and we see the Health Professions Council (HPC) charges £152 for a two year period, and mindful of the needs of their registrants only £76 for the first two years of qualification and all fees are payable in four instalments.

Council will have been aware of general economic conditions, which makes life more challenging for their registrants. This realisation is demonstrated in comments made by the GOC chairman in the most recent annual report. He states that as the Council develops its strategic plans for 2010-15, they are working closely with stakeholders to help identify the areas where they can add value in the long term. Further, that the GOC will remove unnecessary bureaucracy (and so I assume save costs?).

The chairman further states in his comments, highlighted on the website: ‘We should always ask questions.’ Perhaps a question to his counterpart at the HPC would be to ask how they do it so cheaply!