The General Optical Council (GOC) is charged – as one of its four core functions – with investigating and taking action where there are complaints, allegations of poor performance, or self-declarations of convictions/cautions, regulatory investigation or ill health. 

Upon receipt of a complaint, the GOC’s fitness-to-practise (FTP) triage team will assess the concerns raised against the GOC acceptance criteria. This is a case management tool used by the GOC to decide whether to accept a complaint as an allegation of impaired FTP as defined by section 13D of the Opticians Act 1989: this includes misconduct, deficient professional performance and a criminal conviction or caution.