20 April 2022

College of Optometrists updates Guidance for Professional Practice

We have reviewed and updated our Guidance for Professional Practice to ensure it aligns with each Nation’s public health advice, including the recommended respiratory infection prevention and controls to minimise risk of transmission.

This will help optometrists continue to provide eye care safely and effectively, and help manage future public health emergencies. 

Highlights include:

The Guidance for Professional Practice sets out what is expected of optometrists and what we consider is good practice in all settings, ensuring you continue to put your patients first and work in partnership with them and your colleagues to provide the best possible care.  

Related further reading

An examination of the links between smoking and eye disease.

Optometrists should be mindful of making suitable recommendations about cosmetic use and its subsequent removal and this paper provides guidance on its effects on ocular health.

What the NHS 10-Year Health Plan means for optometry in England