General Optical Council

Lesley Longstone appointed as permanent GOC Chief Executive and Registrar

The General Optical Council (GOC) has today announced that its interim Chief Executive and Registrar, Lesley Longstone, has been appointed to the role permanently.

News from Council 13 February 2019

Council approved publication of the new Standards for Optical Businesses, following the amendment to the standards to address feedback received from stakeholders during the consultation.

GOC suspends Hounslow based dispensing optician

The General Optical Council (GOC), the UK regulator for optometrists and dispensing opticians, has decided to suspend Jatinder Bhamra, a dispensing optician based in Heston, Hounslow from its register for a period of nine months.

GOC encourages ESR responses with three weeks to go

The General Optical Council (GOC) is today encouraging its stakeholders to influence the future education and training of the professions by responding to its Education Strategic Review (ESR) consultation by the 25 February deadline.

Vicky McDermott stands down as GOC Chief Executive and Registrar

The General Optical Council (GOC) has today announced that its Chief Executive and Registrar, Vicky McDermott, has stood down to spend more time with her family following the birth of her daughter.

GOC suspends Yorkshire based dispensing optician

The General Optical Council (GOC), the UK regulator for optometrists and dispensing opticians, has decided to suspend Dilesh Gohil, a dispensing optician based in Yorkshire, from its register for nine months.

GOC erases Helensburgh based optometrist

The General Optical Council (GOC), the UK regulator for optometrists and dispensing opticians, has decided to erase Malcolm Craig, an optometrist based in Helensburgh, Scotland from its register.

Love Your Lenses Week to focus on helping practitioners to land the safety message

The General Optical Council (GOC) is launching a set of experimental new tools as part of this year’s Love Your Lenses Week (23 to 30 March), which is focusing on helping eye care practitioners communicate safety messages more effectively to contact lens wearers.

GOC Business Standards consultation receives positive response from the optical sector

Today the GOC has published the full report of the consultation into new draft Standards for Optical Businesses. Analysis of the consultation findings show high approval levels from respondents, with the majority agreeing that they will have a positive impact on optical businesses, professionals and the public.

Over 97 per cent of registrants meet CET requirements

The General Optical Council (GOC) has today released figures showing that over 97 per cent of all registrants met their Continuing Education and Training (CET) requirements for the 2016-18 cycle