General Optical Council

A different hearings panel is selected for each hearing. Each panel has a maximum of five people, chosen from 38 members.

The panel members listed are collectively referred to as the Fitness to Practise Hearings Panel and form the Fitness to Practise Committee and the Registration Appeals Committee. They are not Council members.

Both lay and professional members of the Hearings Panel are independent of the GOC. They are recruited through advertisements in the national and optical press. Panel members are appointed for a term of five years, with the option to serve for a further five years on application.

In every case against an optometrist or a dispensing optician, there will be a lay majority.