Guidance for people who have been asked to attend a fitness to practise hearing

Attending as a witness

We understand that you may be nervous about giving evidence, so we want to ensure that you are prepared with as much information as possible. 

Attendees should liaise with us to confirm the mode of hearing and what measurements have been put in place.

If you have any questions about your hearing please contact our Witness Care Manager on 020 7580 3898 (option 2) or via WitnessCare@optical.org

If you would like to give feedback on a hearing, please fill out the witness feedback form.

Attending as a registrant

We understand that hearings can be stressful and so we want to ensure that you are prepared with as much information as possible.

More information can be found in our hearings guide for registrants. You can also read our guidance for case management meetings, designed to assist parties with our pre-hearing case management process. 

Hearings on the papers is a case management tool that we use to identify and process hearings that may be suitable for concluding and progressing without the need for attendance of parties. More information can be found in our Guidance for hearings on the papers.

Agreed panel disposal is a hearing management tool that enables suitable cases to be processed without a contested hearing. 

If there is anything you do not understand or information that you cannot find, please contact hearings@optical.org. 

Remote hearings 

We have produced guidance for remote hearings.

We have also published a specific witness guide on remote hearings. 

Virtual Tour

We have created a 360° virtual tour of a hearing to help you become familiar with the environment and what to expect. The tour includes real images of our main hearings venue and audio or text descriptions.

Claiming expenses

Information on how you can claim expenses can be found in our expenses policy.