Newly-appointed General Optical Council registrar and chief executive Vicky McDermott made her first official attendance at a Council quarterly meeting last week dominated by talk of education, regulation and drivers’ vision.
McDermott, who took over the top job at the GOC in the summer, has been busy meeting the heads of other associations and regulators ahead of the government’s consultation into regulatory reform. The process, she warned, could lead to changes in CET, fitness to practise processes and even mergers of regulatory bodies or deregulation.
A lively meeting heard strong feelings voiced on the topic of driver’s vision while questions were raised about the speed of progress on the Education Strategic Review. McDermott told the meeting that resources would be made available to ensure the workload the Review presented could be managed in line with the timetable set out.
A full report on the quarterly meeting will be published soon.