View from the GOC: A warm welcome

I’m still only a few weeks into my new role as chief executive and registrar of the General Optical Council, but a number of things have struck me already.

First and foremost, it’s clear what an exciting time this is for the optical professions. Already it’s evident to me just how quickly the professions are changing.

There is great potential for optometrists and dispensing opticians to take on new areas of work, expanding their scopes of practice to deliver positive outcomes for patients.

The speed at which new technology is developing is exciting too. But it is seen both as an opportunity, in delivering new treatments to patients, and as a threat in disrupting traditional ways of working and challenging us at the GOC as to how we regulate in new environments.