ABDO general secretary, Tony Garrett, has had a number of members contact him about an online petition calling for the General Optical Council (GOC) to be investigated over a perceived conflict of interest as evidenced by two seemingly contradictory documents issued by the GOC.
Commenting on the petition, Tony said: “It is very sad that our regulatory body has found itself in this position. I find it very worrying that so many individual registrants feel so aggrieved that they are prepared to sign this petition. Clearly this has been largely supported by optometrists working in the independent sector but a number of ABDO members have added their support.
“One of the serious outcomes of this is the potential for there to be conflict between registrants in both the independent and corporate sectors. This is both damaging and unhelpful.
“At a time when we all need to be totally united in trying to bring the whole sector together and get practices open and looking after patients, this is an unhealthy distraction.
“It also demonstrates, most acutely, that the GOC needs to work closer with the sector and understand the different challenges being faced by all registrants to be able to provide statements that can be supportive to all and distinguish clearly the specifics for each country.
“We welcome, therefore, the GOC’s commitment to reviewing its statement on reopening optical practices and hope that it does so without further delay.”