31 January 2025

Changes at the OCCS

Richard Edwards will retire in March. In his announcement, he also said he would simultaneously retire from the GOC register and step down as a clinical adviser to the Optical Consumer Complaints Service (OCCS). Paul Chapman-Hatchett will succeed Richard at the OCCS following a transition period.

Richard said it had been a privilege to work with the OCCS for 11 years and was "grateful to so many people for the support and friendship I have encountered in my career, and I will miss those relationships more than anything".

Jennie Jones, head of OCCS and partner at Nockolds Resolution, said: "We are very sad to be saying farewell to Richard, whose wealth of optical industry experience and flair for learning and development has really helped us grow the OCCS into the service it is today. He has delivered training for us around the country, and many of our service users will have met him and learned from his experience."

Incoming OCCS clinical adviser Paul Chapman-Hatchett said he looked forward to contributing to "OCCS's continued success, helping them to continue to deliver exceptional service, supporting both consumers and practitioners to resolve complaints as smoothly as possible".