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nearly half of optical professionals say they've faced harassment at work, GOC survey finds
The General Optical Council has published its 2026 Registrant Workforce and Perceptions Survey, based on responses from nearly 3,500 registrants between March and April this year.
There's plenty in it, including the use of AI amongst other things, but there’s one figure in particular that we feel should be talked about more: 46% of respondents say they personally experienced some form of harassment, bullying or abuse at work in the last 12 months.
That's not a small number, and as an optical recruitment agency talking with professionals daily, we've noticed workplace pressure and culture come up constantly in those conversations. The report benchmarks registrants against the NHS Staff Survey, and optical comes out worse on the two main sources: 38% report harassment from patients or the public, against 25% of NHS staff, and 19% report it from managers, against 9%. That last one is more than double the NHS rate, and unlike patient behaviour, it's something an employer has direct control over.
GOC survey results: the wider pressure picture
The harassment figure doesn't sit in isolation. The survey also found:
Nearly half of optometrists (47%) said the time allocated for a sight test has been insufficient to provide safe patient care
38% said they felt pressure to see a high volume of patients
36% said they'd found it difficult, over the past year, to give patients the level of care they needed
There's also a reporting gap. Only 37% of those who experienced harassment, bullying or abuse said it was reported, compared with 55% in the NHS. So registrants are more likely to experience it and less likely to raise it. Worth adding that 46% is up slightly on last year's 44%, and down from 50% in 2024, so this isn't a one year blip. It's a problem that hasn't shifted.
Put together, that's a workforce directly telling its regulator, in fairly plain terms, that time pressure and commercial demands are affecting both the care they can give and how they're treated while giving it.
The GOC has acknowledged the issue and points to its ongoing review into commercial practices as the route to addressing it. However, whether that translates into real change on the practice floor is the thing worth watching.
what about ai and other findings?
The survey also covered AI use, which is worth a brief mention – as we’ve covered AI in optometry in a recent post. 45% of registrants think AI will improve eye care, but 60% rated their own understanding of it as poor, and top concerns included AI making errors, unclear legal responsibility, and a lack of transparency in how it reaches decisions. Interesting, but arguably not the headline the original coverage made it out to be, especially set against nearly half the workforce reporting harassment.
There was better news too: job satisfaction rose slightly to 59% (up from 55% last year), and more registrants are gaining additional qualifications in areas like glaucoma and medical retina than in previous years.
why this matters if you're job hunting or hiring
This survey lands not long after the GOC's consultation on updated sight testing and delegation rules, which we actually covered back in early August. Together, they show a regulator reshaping how practices run, while practitioners are saying that culture and patient volumes are what's actually affecting their day to day.
So if you're considering a move, ask at interview about patient time allowances and how the practice handles difficult behaviour, not just salary and hours. If you're hiring, culture and workload management are now genuine differentiators in a tight talent market.
At Talentshed, we help optical practices find people who fit, and practitioners find roles that actually look after them – and we’re totally independent, so we’ll always have your best interests in mind.
If either sound like you, get in touch today and find out how we can help.
