Press release: Cautious welcome from ABDO for new ways forward for GOC ESR

Following the latest Education Strategic Review (ESR) consultation, the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) has welcomed the General Optical Council (GOC)’s recognition that more detail about clinical knowledge and skills is required in the proposed outcomes for registration. However, ABDO is calling for a rethink on the timetable for finalising the proposals, and the proposed move to a Single Point of Accountability (SPA) for each route to registration.

ABDO welcomes the change in position from the GOC, accepting ABDO’s argument that to ensure consistent, high standards, the draft outcomes for registration should be revised to provide more detail about the clinical skills and knowledge required of newly-qualified practitioners, with recognition of the distinct roles of dispensing opticians and optometrists.

ABDO also welcomes the GOC response to ABDO’s call for greater assurance that there will be consistency in the provision of education, recognising the need for ‘indicative documents’ that will provide additional information about the content of programmes leading to registration as a dispensing optician or optometrist. Requiring education providers to follow these indicative documents, or explain why they have not done so, will help to ensure consistent, high standards, while still allowing scope for innovation.

ABDO is also pleased by the GOC’s announcement at its recent council meeting that the initial draft research from the Quality Assurance Agency recommends the entry-level qualification for dispensing opticians should be at Level 6 on the relevant qualification frameworks in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and at the equivalent Level 10 in Scotland. ABDO has long argued that the degree-level learning provided by its Level 6 Diploma in Ophthalmic Dispensing should continue to provide the benchmark for entry to the profession, particularly given the demand for dispensing opticians to expand their roles to help meet patients’ ever-expanding need for high-quality eye care.

However, ABDO continues to have a number of serious concerns about the GOC’s proposals and its planned approach.

First the GOC’s timetable is wholly unrealistic. The Council is intending to approve final versions of the outcomes for registration, standards for qualification providers and the quality assurance framework at its meeting on 10 February 2021 rather than in December 2020. This short delay is apparently to allow its two expert advisory groups (EAGs) to incorporate the feedback from the recent consultation, but this provides nowhere near sufficient time given the scale of work involved and other demands on the time of the EAGs’ members, particularly in light of the current pandemic.

Given the negative response to the GOC’s consultation and the substantial risks highlighted by the financial impact analysis commissioned by the GOC, addressing the issues raised is a lot more than ‘fine-tuning’:

• The GOC’s consultation report states that 53 per cent of respondents said the ESR proposals would have a negative impact on stakeholders, with 30 per cent highlighting risk for the public and patients, and only 18 per cent saying the impact would be positive.
• The financial impact analysis states that the ESR proposals are likely, if implemented as they stand:

• To bring additional costs to universities, colleges and practices;
• To prompt some providers, of optometry training and ophthalmic dispensing training, to question the ongoing viability of programmes;
• To make the provision of professional and clinical experience at some community practices less economically viable, unless universities provide payment; and
• To create unsustainable demands on education and placement providers if implemented in the timescales envisaged.

The GOC also needs to bear in mind that the members of the EAGs have volunteered to provide their expert advice on top of their other roles, which for many involves dealing with the myriad challenges of teaching and assessing students during the current pandemic.

Secondly, the GOC has failed to recognise the need for the revised outcomes for registration to be developed in parallel with the indicative documents that will provide more detailed information about course content. The outcomes and indicative documents are mutually interdependent and must be developed in tandem, with particular involvement from the Opticians Academic Schools Council and the Optometry Schools Council. It would not be appropriate, therefore, for the Council to approve the outcomes before the indicative documents have been developed.

Thirdly, ABDO is surprised and disappointed that the GOC remains wedded to the idea of having a single point of accountability (SPA) for each route to registration. We note the GOC’s view that further work is needed in communicating the SPA concept, but this is not and never has been the issue.

The GOC’s stated aim – reiterated during the recent Council meeting – is to ensure that students gain professional and clinical experience which is integrated with their academic studies. Having a single point of accountability might be one way of achieving this outcome, but it is not the only way. For example:

• Nearly all student dispensing opticians work in practice from day one already, gaining valuable patient experience at the same time as studying.
• There are already optometry BSc (Hons) programmes which incorporate placements in practice and Masters programmes which provide a full range of clinical experience, with students having the option of choosing a programme which integrates the College’s scheme for registration.

The GOC has never explained firstly why a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is necessary; and secondly why it is unwilling to consider alternatives which could achieve the same aim and involve less upheaval, less expense, less risk and therefore, be implemented more efficiently.

While the SPA model may well have been used in other healthcare sectors, this does not automatically mean that it is appropriate for the optical sector, as opposed to healthcare sectors where the NHS plays a much greater role in organising and funding placements in, for example, hospital settings.

ABDO remains committed to working with the GOC to fulfil its aim of ensuring that student dispensing opticians and optometrists are educated to a high standard and prepared for the roles of the future. However, as we have said repeatedly, in order to secure broad support for whatever new system of education is introduced, the GOC must be able to show that it has assessed the costs, benefits and risks associated with not just its proposed new model, but with alternative models too.