Contact us

Write to us or visit us at:
41 Harley Street
London
W1G 8DJ

tel: 020 7580 3898
fax: 020 7436 3525
email: goc@optical.org

Visit our staff contacts page for more information.

Got a query about Continuing Education and Training (CET)?

Contact Vantage Technologies, the CET Scheme Administrators on 0114 247 9500. You can also email them directly from the cetoptics website, www.cetoptics.com, or alternatively you can write to:

CET Optics Scheme Manager

Vantage Technologies Ltd
Vantage House
Rother Valley Way
Sheffield
S20 3RW

Making a complaint about optical services                                                       If you are dissatisified with your glasses, or want to complain about the service you received from a practice, please contact the Optical Consumer Complaints Service,

on 020 7261 1017 or write to: The Administrator OCCS, P.O. Box 4685, London SE1 6ZB.

Complaints about the Council
If you have a complaint about the Council or one of its members or staff, you should write to the Registrar, Peter Coe. If your complaint is about the Registrar, you may write to the Deputy Registrar, Dian Taylor.

Write to: The Registrar, General Optical Council, 41 Harley Street, London W1G 8DJ
We will acknowledge all complaints within two working days.

Confirmation and permission
If you are not directly involved in the matters giving rise to the complaint, we will ask for confirmation of the complaint from someone who is directly involved. (Unless that person is under 18 years of age and you are their parent or guardian, or you are the relative or representative of a deceased person.) We may need your permission form to obtain information and documents held by a third party

When you will hear from us
Once we have obtained all relevant information and documents, the Registrar will respond to you within 14 days. The Registrar will tell you if he is taking any action, and whether he will recommend any changes to the Council's procedures as a result of the complaint. Where the complaint relates to a Council member, the Registrar will also consider whether to make a recommendation to the Council that the Council member should be suspended or permanently removed from the Council.

If you are not happy with the Registrar's response
If you are not happy with the response you receive from the Registrar (or Deputy Registrar), you can ask the Audit Committee to review the complaint.

Write to: The Chairman, Audit Committee, General Optical Council, 41 Harley Street, London W1G 8DJ
In normal circumstances, you will receive a response within 28 days of receipt of the complaint. We will explain the Committee's decision and the reasons for it.

Read the Complaints Protocol