- You must keep your professional knowledge and skills up-to-date and this includes: the law, the GOC’s Standards of Practice, College and other guidance, developments in practice.
- You should regularly review your work.
- You must work within the limits of your competence.
- You must meet the GOC’s requirements for continuing education and training (CET).
- The College encourages you to take responsibility for, and participate in, professional development beyond CET requirements.
A1
This Guidance does not change what you must do under the law.
A2
You must keep your professional knowledge and skills up-to-date1 so you continue to practise safely.
A3
You must keep up-to-date with the law, the GOC’s Standards of Practice and guidance that is relevant to your work.
A4
You should be familiar with guidance issued by The College of Optometrists and other relevant bodies.
A5
You should be familiar with developments that affect your work and with changes in practice, the needs of patients and eye care services.
A6
You should take steps to monitor, reflect on, and improve the quality of your work, for example through clinical audit 2, 3 and peer review.4
A7
If you take a break from practising for a significant amount of time, you should ensure your knowledge and skills are up to date before returning to optometric practice.
References
1 General Optical Council (2016) Standards of Practice for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians. [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]2 The College of Optometrists (2015) Clinical Governance in Optometric Practice. [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
3 The College of Optometrists (2015) Clinical Audit in Optometric Practice. [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
4 The College of Optometrists (2017) Peer Discussion and Peer Review. [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
A8
You must recognise and work within the limits of your professional competence. 1
A9
You must know the standards of competence for your job role. Where you are working beyond core competencies for an optometrist, for example, working in community services or working as an independent prescriber, you must be capable of working at that standard.
A10
If you observe a sign or symptom which you cannot manage within your competence, you must refer the patient to a practitioner with the appropriate qualifications and registration. 5 See section on Working with colleagues.
References
1 General Optical Council (2016) Standards of Practice for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians. [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]5 General Optical Council (2016) Standards of Practice for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians para 10.3. [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
A11
You must meet the GOC’s statutory continuing professional development (CPD) requirement for fully qualified optometrists. In Scotland, if you provide the NHS General Ophthalmic Service (GOS), you must undertake a course of training provided by NHS Education for Scotland every 12 months.6
A12
The GOC requirement for CPD also applies to periods during which you are suspended from the Opticians’ Register. 7
References
6 National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services)(Scotland) Regulations 2006, Regulation 3A. SSI 212 [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]7 Opticians Act 1989 s13G(4) [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
A13
The College recommends that you tailor your professional development to your practice by including a range of relevant development activities.
A14
Plan your professional development to tackle areas that require improvement and which help you explore new knowledge and skills. You can take advantage of unplanned or spontaneous learning opportunities, such as informal discussions with colleagues about interesting cases. You should reflect on your learning, thinking about how you will put it into practice.
A15
Undertaking regular professional development means you can:
- add value to your scope of practice
- stay up to date
- develop your confidence
- cope with change
- deliver high-quality patient care, and
- enhance your career prospects and job satisfaction.
A16
Professional development can include:
- formal and informal learning
- active learning, such as group work, peer review, writing and presenting
- distance learning, such as reading journals, online learning and listening to podcasts, and
- reflective activities.
