The College of Optometrists has today (11 December) published updated Guidance for Professional Practice for optometrists.
The Guidance is The College of Optometrists’ view of good practice. Based on the General Optical Council’s Standards of Practice for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians, it sets out what is expected of optometrists and supports them in putting the GOC standards into practice.
Each section of the Guidance is evidence-based and reflects current legislation, to provide optometrists with the up-to-date assistance needed to make good clinical decisions and ensure patient care is always paramount.
It is relevant to owner-practitioners, partners, employees and locums, pre-registration optometrists and students; and is applicable in all work environments, including multiple practices, independent practices and hospitals, and to both NHS and privately funded services.
The updated 2023 edition, Good Practice Better Care, is the 4th edition of the Guidance. It contains four completely new sections, covering:
- Remote consultations and the delivery of virtual care
- Assessing and managing children with myopia
- Collaborative care pathways
- Visual field and retinal structural terms (Annex 2).
Significant updates have also been made to several pre-existing sections. These include:
- Instilling eyedrops
- Principles of the routine eye examination
- Ethical research
- Equipment list for the routine eye examination (Annex 1).
The creation of the updated 2023 version was overseen by an Expert Review Group from across the UK and was subject to a six-week public consultation prior to publication.
Eilidh Thomson MCOptom, Vice Chair of Optometry Scotland, was part of the Expert Review Group. She said: “The launch of the new Guidance for Professional Practice has been a truly collaborative approach from all four nations. The review group have applied lessons learned from the pandemic and beyond to provide robust guidance which should provide every practitioner clarity and confidence moving forward in their clinical practice for years to come.”
The 2023 updated Guidance is open access and available to all optometrists, healthcare professionals and the public on the College of Optometrists’ website. College members also have access to it via an app and supporting materials.
The College is also hosting a webinar for members on Thursday 11 January 2024, where the College Clinical Advisers will sign-post users to the 2023 changes, and participants can ask any questions they have. Registration is open to members via the College website.
Daniel Hardiman-McCartney MBE FCOptom is the Lead Clinical Adviser at the College of Optometrists. He said: “The 4th edition has many updates and contains new sections that enable optometrists to innovate the ways eye care can be delivered, whilst still ensuring good practice and protecting the public. The review process has been a collaborative endeavour, with representatives from all nations, stakeholders, individual experts, clinicians and patients represented.
“Finally, the guidance will be published digitally on our website, on our member app and in PDF for expert witnesses, making the 4th edition the most collaborative and sustainable guidance update that the College has published.”
