Optometrists and dispensing opticians
GOC fitness to practise: defence for optometrists and dispensing opticians
The General Optical Council regulates optometrists, dispensing opticians, student registrants and optical businesses. Its process runs under the Opticians Act 1989 and its Fitness to Practise Rules 2013, and a pair of case examiners decides most cases. This page sets out each stage from those sources and the GOC's own guidance. It also covers what to do on day one and how we act for you on fixed fees.
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Day one
When the GOC letter arrives
Do
- Note every date. The Registrar's letter gives you 28 days from its date to send written representations and documents.
- Tell your indemnity provider, professional body or defence organisation straight away.
- Keep the patient records, test results and correspondence as they are, and take copies.
- Write a private note of what you remember while it is fresh.
- Speak to us before you reply to the GOC or respond to a proposed warning.
Do not
- Reply to the GOC straight away to explain yourself.
- Contact the patient or the person who raised the concern.
- Change or add to records after the event.
- Discuss the case with colleagues who may become witnesses.
- Post about it online, even in a closed group.
The stages
How a GOC case runs, in the GOC's own terms
The Registrar's initial consideration
The Registrar considers every allegation first, under rule 4 of the Fitness to Practise Rules 2013. It then decides whether the allegation falls within a ground in section 13D of the Opticians Act 1989. For an individual registrant the grounds start with misconduct, deficient professional performance and a conviction or caution. They also include adverse physical or mental health and a determination by another regulator. If the allegation falls within a ground, the Registrar refers it to the case examiners. At the same time, the Registrar must consider a referral to the Fitness to Practise Committee for an interim order. A conviction that led to a custodial sentence, immediate or suspended, must go to the Fitness to Practise Committee.
Notice and your representations
Rule 5 requires the Registrar to write to you explaining the allegation. The Registrar must also provide the supporting material. You have 28 days from the date of the letter to submit written representations and documents, which the Registrar may disclose to the person who made the allegation for comment. Any investigation the case examiners need falls to the Registrar too.
Case examiners
Two case examiners consider the case under rule 12. One is a registered optometrist or dispensing optician and the other is lay. The GOC's guidance for case examiners, version 2, directs them to apply the realistic prospect test. Approved in October 2025, that guidance took effect from December 2025. The test asks whether there is a realistic prospect of establishing impairment of your fitness to practise. It must be impairment to a degree that justifies action against your registration. There must be a genuine possibility, not a remote or fanciful one, that the committee finds the facts alleged proved. If it does, there must also be a genuine possibility that it finds your fitness to practise impaired. They do not find facts, and where two accounts conflict the conflict is for the committee.
Both case examiners must agree on the outcome. They may refer the case to the Fitness to Practise Committee or take no further action, with or without advice. They may also warn you about your future conduct, and rule 14 then gives you 28 days to make representations on the proposed warning. Where they cannot agree, the case goes to the Investigation Committee under rule 13. The same applies where the case needs an assessment of your health or performance. The guidance records that on average 30 per cent of cases opened for investigation reach the committee.
Interim orders
Section 13L of the Act governs interim orders. Under it, the Fitness to Practise Committee may suspend your registration or impose conditions for up to 18 months. The committee must be satisfied that the order is necessary for the protection of the public. Failing that, it must be satisfied that the order is otherwise in the public interest or in your interests. It must review the order within six months and then within each further six months. If you ask once three months have passed, it must review the order sooner. The GOC may ask the court to extend it by up to 12 months at a time. Our guide to interim orders explains how to prepare.
The Fitness to Practise Committee
Rule 34 sets the earliest date for the substantive hearing. It can take place no earlier than 28 days after service of notice of the hearing date on you. The committee decides disputed facts on the civil standard, more likely than not. If it finds impairment, section 13F lets it erase your name, except in a health case. It can instead suspend your registration for up to 12 months or make it conditional for up to three years. It may give a warning about your future conduct even where it finds no impairment. The GOC's Hearings and Indicative Sanctions Guidance, updated in July 2026, applies to hearings from 20 July 2026.
Appeal
Section 23G gives 28 days to appeal to the High Court in England and Wales. The period begins with the day of service of the decision on you. Appeals run through a regulated law firm we work with, and we stay involved.
How we help
What you can expect from Eloquia
Saqib Khan leads your case from the first letter. A specialist barrister works alongside him from the outset, rather than appearing only once the tribunal lists a hearing. We put the most effort in early, because the stage you can still influence is the one that repays preparation. We set a clear account of the events against the records and add evidence of what you have done since. That gives the decision maker a reason to close the case or to choose the least restrictive outcome.
Before each stage starts, we confirm in writing what it covers and what it costs. You then decide whether to go ahead, and you deal with the same people throughout. Where a hearing follows, we prepare the evidence, the witness statements and any expert report. We also prepare you to give evidence, and we present your case.
You may also face a police investigation, an inquest or a disciplinary process at work. If so, we run every track as one strategy, so that nothing said in one forum harms you in another.
Fees
The same fixed fee approach as for doctors
We quote a fixed fee for each stage before it starts, in the same way as we do for doctors, and we state every fee plus VAT. You pay stage by stage, so you never pay in advance for a hearing that may not happen. We do not act on conditional fee agreements. Our fee menu for GMC cases shows how we price the stages of a doctor's case. We price the stages of your case on the same basis. If your indemnity provider, union or defence organisation has declined to help, read our page on cover refused or limited.
We state every fee plus VAT, and each includes a specialist barrister. We involve the barrister from the outset to give you additional support and advice. Fees do not include additional expenses such as expert fees, which we quote separately.
Read at source
The rules and guidance this page draws on
Sources
- Opticians Act 1989, section 13D (allegations and grounds)
- Section 13F of the Opticians Act 1989 (powers of the Fitness to Practise Committee)
- Opticians Act 1989, section 13L (interim orders)
- Section 23G of the Opticians Act 1989 (appeals)
- General Optical Council (Fitness to Practise) Rules Order of Council 2013
- Guidance for case examiners, version 2, September 2025 (GOC)
- GOC: GOC publishes updated Hearings and Indicative Sanctions guidance (20 July 2026)
Questions and answers
Questions optical professionals ask
How long do I have to respond to a GOC allegation?
28 days from the date of the Registrar's letter, under rule 5 of the Fitness to Practise Rules 2013. Your written representations and documents go before the case examiners. The Registrar may also disclose them to the person who made the allegation for comment. Take advice before you reply.
What test do GOC case examiners apply?
The realistic prospect test. The GOC's guidance for case examiners asks whether there is a realistic prospect of establishing impairment of your fitness to practise. It must be impairment to a degree that justifies action against your registration. That needs a genuine possibility, not a remote or fanciful one, that the committee finds the facts proved. If it does, there must also be a genuine possibility that it finds impairment. Both case examiners must agree to refer a case, take no further action or issue a warning. Where they disagree the case goes to the Investigation Committee.
How long can a GOC interim order last?
Up to 18 months under section 13L of the Opticians Act 1989. The Fitness to Practise Committee must review the order within six months and then within each further six months. It must review it sooner if you ask once three months have passed. The GOC can apply to the court to extend it by up to 12 months at a time.
What can the GOC Fitness to Practise Committee impose?
If it finds impairment, it can erase your name, except in a health case. It can also suspend your registration for up to 12 months or make it conditional for up to three years. It may give a warning about your future conduct even where it finds no impairment. The sanction stage follows the GOC's Hearings and Indicative Sanctions Guidance, updated in July 2026.
How long do I have to appeal a GOC decision?
28 days under section 23G of the Opticians Act 1989, beginning with the day of service of the decision on you. The appeal goes to the High Court in England and Wales.
Does Eloquia act for optometrists and dispensing opticians on fixed fees?
Yes. We quote a fixed fee for each stage before it starts, stated plus VAT. Each fee includes a specialist barrister from the outset, and we quote expert fees separately. Our fees and funding page explains how staged payment works.
More answers sit on our questions and answers page, and our glossary explains the terms regulators use.
Read more
Guides on this subject
The GMC process
Insight and remediation: what tribunals look for and how to evidence it
How the GMC and the MPTS define insight and remediation, and how to build evidence of both from the start.
The GMC process
Dishonesty allegations: why the GMC treats them so seriously and how the Ivey test works
How the Ivey test for dishonesty works, how the GMC approaches dishonesty allegations, and what helps a doctor facing one.
The GMC process
Interim orders tribunals: what they decide, how often they suspend and how to prepare
The section 41A test an interim orders tribunal applies, what it decides, the 2025 figures and how to prepare.
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