Guidance for Professional Practice

Guidance on when to refer; who to refer to; communicating referrals; and recording communications.

Urgency of referrals

This table in the Guidance for Professional Practice provides information on which conditions are considered an emergency or urgent.

Writing a good referral letter

Acuity article on what makes a good referral letter, information you must include, and how much is too much.

Latest online CPD

Independent prescribing – management in clinical practice

In this updated online CPD course for optometrists you will be given the background to four patients and will complete a series of activities related to each case.

Cataract Contact lenses Independent prescribing Referrals
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Latest journal article

The butterfly effect: how OCT biomarkers inform optometry practice

In the first of a three-part series, Helen Bird explores the importance of biomarkers in indicating disease, some of the latest OCT imaging biomarkers and how they relate to optometrists’ work.

AMD AI and technology OCT Public health Referrals
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Live events

Online peer review: 10 December 2025

This online peer review session is open to College members and will cover your GOC peer review requirement.

Children Glaucoma OCT Referrals
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Latest clinical files

March 2025: Case on keratoconus

Clinical files: I have seen a patient in practice who I suspect has keratoconus. Do I need to refer them?

Contact lenses Referrals
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Referral

May 2024: Case on repeat visual fields and internal referral

Clinical files: I am a locum optometrist who has been working at a practice while the resident is on holiday. It is my last day at the practice, and I have a patient who needs a repeat visual fields test but declined to complete it on the same day. What should I do?

Referrals

February 2024: Case on patient referrals and PED

Clinical files: Do I have to refer an asymptomatic patient with a small pigment epithelial detachment (PED)?

AMD Low vision OCT Referrals

Picture perfect: sharing the best ophthalmic images

Kaye McIntosh on tackling the lack of standardisation when sharing ophthalmic images.

Public health Referrals

Optometry Tomorrow

Welcome to the UK's leading optometry conference - our flagship CPD event!

AMD Binocular vision Cataract Children Contact lenses Dementia Dispensing Driving and vision Falls Glaucoma Independent prescribing Low vision Myopia OCT Referrals Research Retina Workforce

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