The College’s Optical Workforce Survey showed that just over half of optometrists had received a clinical appraisal in the last 12 months (COptom, 2016). 

This is likely to be the case for most optometrists who work in an NHS setting. For others, the closest equivalent is peer review sessions, which became mandatory following an overhaul of Continuing Education and Training (CET) in 2015.

Acuity Clinical Editor Kieran Loft MCOptom says: “The change encouraged practitioners to talk with other practitioners about cases. It’s good practice as it encourages more collaborative working and conferring with colleagues about day-to-day cases in practice.”