500 signatures reached
To: Leonie Milliner CEO of General Optical Council
Stop the use of ‘Ghost Clinics’ in eyecare
We call on the General Optical Council to investigate the use of Ghost Clinics in opticians throughout the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland in the interests of patient safety and optometrists’ welfare. We request that the GOC regulates the sector to ensure the use of ghost clinics is eradicated.
Why is this important?
The practice of ghost clinics or double-booking patient clinics for commercial gain risks both patients and clinicians in their prospective roles.
Patients can be put at risk from a rushed eye examination that may miss vital signs of an eye condition or overall eye health.
Practitioners are put in a compromising position between carrying out their employer's request and/or breaching GOC standards which could lead to them losing their registration and be unable to practice.
The application of ghost clinics is often aimed at those with less employment rights like new starters, newly qualified or locums (self-employed), who feel pressurised to accept the practice.
Many practitioners are left feeling stressed, missing their rest breaks and working additional hours just to cover the double appointments booked whilst feeling they are letting patients down.
This also affects everyone who rely on companies within the optical sector to look after their eye health, so help support those in the sector trying to eradicate this practice and also for the benefit of your own wider health by signing this petition.