The Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) has made new contributions to the debate around the General Optical Council’s (GOC) Education Strategic Review (ESR), which was launched in late July to gather views on a proposed update to GOC requirements for qualification as a dispensing optician or optometrist.
In August, ABDO released a statement that raised concerns over the GOC’s proposed changes, which it said created ‘a significant risk of inconsistent standards of education and lower standards of education.’ The GOC then released a response to these concerns, that acknowledged ABDO’s position and stated that ABDO staff and members had helped draft the new proposals as part of the expert advisory group.
In its new statement, ABDO reiterated its commitment to working with the GOC to fulfil the ESR’s aim of ensuring student dispensing opticians and optometrists are educated to a high standard that prepares them for the future. ABDO took part in the ESR as part of the expert advisory group, but the organisation’s president, Jo Holmes, noted: ‘We do not believe that our involvement with the expert advisory group precludes our ability to raise concerns about the GOC’s proposals. Not all of our advice has been taken on board and the current proposals raise issues that we want to work with the GOC to resolve.
‘We hope that by sharing our detailed understanding of the proposals we can contribute to a wider debate that leads ultimately to a new system of education that is fit-for-purpose and can be implemented effectively.’
New costs
The first concern of ABDO’s statements covered cost; ABDO alleged the GOC has not published estimates of the costs of moving to the new system or explained who will bear the expense. Analysis of whether these new costs will be outweighed by any benefits is also not included, alongside a lack of separate analysis of the impact of the new system on optometrists versus dispensing opticians or consideration of an alternative system.
While both the GOC and ABDO have encouraged members and stakeholders to submit their views as part of the consultation, ABDO said that without proper consideration of these factors ‘respondents to the consultation will be unable to make an informed response.’
New providers
The focus of ABDO’s second concern was around the ESR’s proposal to delegate decisions over what was taught and which standards were reached to education providers. There was considerable concern on ABDO’s part that this could lead to lower and inconsistent standards of entry to the profession for both dispensing opticians and optometrists.
A lack of detail in the proposed outcomes for registration for clinical skills and student knowledge prompted ABDO’s concerns. The association claimed ‘with the prospect of multiple approved qualifications and each provider deciding for themselves what is the right standard, it is not clear how the GOC will ensure that students reach the same baseline – beyond requiring providers to seek feedback from stakeholders, including patients and employers.’
Dispensing opticians
Changes to the system of education for dispensing opticians have also not been satisfactorily justified, according to ABDO, with this issue forming the third area of criticism in the association’s statement.
ABDO noted that the vast majority of dispensing opticians already worked in practice while studying, and that there was already a single set of competencies for them. Proposals in the GOC’s ESR would introduce a single point of accountability model that would make clinical experience gained by student optometrists more integrated with academic study, and this did not seem to consider different circumstances for dispensing opticians. ABDO cited the GOC’s own research, in which more than 70% of newly qualified dispensing opticians said they had received the correct level of clinical experience during their education, to pose a question over why the GOC’s proposed one-size-fits-all approach is necessary. The GOC’s polling showed that only 40% of newly qualified optometrists felt they had received an adequate level of clinical experience.
- The GOC’s consultation is live until October 19, 2020. To take part, practitioners can visit https://consultation.optical.org.