The General Optical Council (GOC) has created a service to support the roll-out of its new education and training requirements for qualification providers and promote collaboration across the optical sector. It said the Sector Partnership for Optical Knowledge and Education (Spoke) would provide advice and help to education providers that could assist them in meeting the GOC’s updated requirements for qualification approval.
The College of Optometrists will be Spoke’s primary partner and will be supported by the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) and the Optometry Schools Council (OSC). Senior representatives from the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians (FODO), the Opticians Academic Schools Council (OASC) and the Association for Independent Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians (AIO) were also listed as members of Spoke’s knowledge hub oversight committee.
Lizzy Ostler, the College’s director of education, welcomed the collaborative nature of Spoke: ‘I am really excited that the Spoke bid, developed in collaboration with OSC and ABDO, has been successful. As a steering group, our plan is to involve the whole sector in establishing expected and best practice guidance for the qualifying education of optometrists and dispensing opticians.
‘This will be a great opportunity to bring to life the GOC’s new requirements for providers and those involved in course approval for years to come.’ Ostler added that Spoke was keen to involve stakeholders from across the industry and invited members of the sector to join in with the new project. Those interested can find out more by emailing spokehub@college-optometrists.org.
New requirements
Spoke has been created as a resource for programme leaders, academic staff, module coordinators and practice-based employers and will support the design and development of qualifications. The GOC recently amended its own requirements for approval of qualifications leading to registration as part of the long-running education strategic review (ESR).
Launched in 2020, the GOC’s consultation on its ESR sought to gather industry and stakeholder views on proposals to update requirements for qualification. Various organisations, including the College, voiced their concerns with the proposed changes at the time, citing worries about the possible financial impact of changes and the completeness of the outcomes for clinical practice categories. The ESR’s proposals were then refined by expert advisory groups, which included representatives from across the industry, before being approved.
Commenting on the approval in February, former GOC council chair Gareth Hadley called the new requirements ‘the most fundamental change for over 35 years in the way optometrists and dispensing opticians are prepared for entry to the register’. He added that the changes would have ‘direct and lasting positive impacts on patient care and safety’. These changes included requirements that qualifications must integrate 48 weeks of learning and experience in practice and emphasised a focus on the development of professional capability.
Continued cross-sector involvement in supporting these changes through Spoke has been welcomed by the GOC, which added that the new service would support practices and sector businesses in their roles as placement providers within the new qualifications.
The importance of collaboration was also noted by the Council. It said that Spoke’s first mission would be to create a knowledge hub that would produce ‘sector-led, co-produced indicative guidance to supplement the Outcomes for Registration’, which listed requirements for education providers.
Leonie Milliner, GOC director of education, said: ‘We are delighted that the College, OSC and ABDO’s proposal for their collaborative knowledge hub, Spoke, has secured GOC support for the next four years. This is an important initiative for the GOC and we thank the sector for responding so positively to our request for proposals.’