COVID-19: College updates

The College’s recommendation to move to the red, amber or green phase of our guidance is informed by the positions of the four UK national health services, advice from the national public health authorities and the national COVID-19 alert level. The COVID-19 alert level was moved to Level 3 by the Chief Medical Officers of each UK nation on 19 June, following advice issued by the new Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC).  

As of Monday 29 June, all four nations are aligned in operating within amber column 1 of the College’s recovery guidance table. Note there is some variation in how eye care in each nation is delivered and prioritised, so members should refer to our recovery guidance in conjunction with the appropriate national advice.  

Our table and guidance are for the whole of the UK and are regularly reviewed.  In England, NHS England has said that as from 15 June 2020, 'routine' services can be resumed. However, patients should be prioritised based on their need, and triaged remotely first. This would include, assessing their risk of developing eye disease, as well as their risk related to COVID-19 infection. Optometrists can recall, or see, asymptomatic patients if capacity permits. We are still in a pandemic with the virus in general circulation, and so sight tests and urgent eye care should continue to be adapted to protect the practitioner, practice team and patients to reduce the likelihood of contracting and transmitting the COVID-19 virus. 

Updated: 19 June 2020

We advise that optometrists continue to triage patients, over the phone or virtually, to assess their needs before an appointment is made. This would mean that low-risk asymptomatic patients are not prioritised until we have reached a point of low community transmission.

Updated: 19 June 2020

Yes. We are still in a period of sustained COVID-19 transmission. All optometrists will need to continue to comply with College guidance on social distancing, adapting practice, observing hygiene control measures and wearing PPE.

Updated: 12 June 2020

The College recovery guidance states that in the first part of the amber phase, practitioners can start offering care on a ‘needs led’ basis.  A ‘needs led’ approach enables optometrists to use their professional judgment to act in their patient’s best interests. This may include where the patient is anxious or concerned about their eyesight or ocular health, is affected by a minor reduction in vision, needs a replacement pair of spectacles or contact lenses or is in an at risk group requiring a regular examination . It is appropriate to arrange face-to-face consultation following a remote triage appointment. Needs led would not typically include recalling low risk asymptomatic patients, who are happy with their current correction.
 
NHS England defined essential care as:
 
“this includes but is not limited to appointments for patients who would not normally be considered to be emergencies, but where, in the practitioner’s professional judgement, a delay in an examination may be detrimental to a patient’s sight or wellbeing. This may include where patients have broken or lost their glasses or contact lenses and need a replacement pair to function.” 

Updated: 12 June 2020

Both NHS and privately funded patients can access eye care services on a needs-led / essential eye care basis in the amber phase. NHSE/I have made this ‘essential eye care’ approach a contractual requirement, whereas for privately funded patients the ‘needs led’ approach it is reliant on optical practices following our guidance. 

Updated: 15 June 2020

NHS England/Improvement have committed to provide the average support payments until the end of June. Negotiations between the ONFC and NHSE/I are currently under way to establish whether there will be support for optical businesses thereafter.

Updated: 15 June 2020

As well as providing the guidance, the College has developed a door poster, an infographic, and a patient video for members to use in practice, on practice websites, in patient emails and on social media. We are also printing floor stickers to encourage social distancing in practice, which members can order from Thursday 18 June. 

Updated: 15 June 2020

The advice of NHS England is that the sequencing and scheduling of patients for treatment as services resume should consider: 

• the urgency of needs 
• the particular unmet needs of vulnerable groups 
• available capacity to undertake activity

This means that, if capacity permits, and you have sufficient PPE, you may recall or see routine asymptomatic patients. You should consider ways to risk stratify the patients you recall, to prioritise those who would benefit the most from a sight test.

Updated: 19 June 2020

From Tuesday 30 June, some areas of Leicestershire are in a localised lockdown. Optometric practices in this area should prioritise services and operate on the basis they are in the red phase of COVID-19 recovery initially for two weeks from that date. Leicestershire County Council has issued a map of the areas affected. These include Leicester city centre as well as suburban parts of Leicestershire, including Wigston, Oadby and Blaby.

More information is available on the Leicestershire County Council website.

Updated: 30 June 2020.

The Westminster government has confirmed that optical practices are unaffected by the instruction for all non-essential retail shops to close, and should remain open to provide essential and urgent primary eye health care.

It is an individual decision for each practice owner to make as to whether or not to remain open in this difficult climate. If a practice owner does decide to remain open, they should ask all patients to telephone the practice, before attending, for remote triage to ascertain whether the patient needs essential eye care before being seen. If practices in a local area wish to close, they may choose to join with other practices to provide a local hub where essential services can be provided. This could be done on a rota basis where appropriate. Patients should be clearly signposted as to how to access the care they need. 

Updated: 1 April 2020

The Westminster government has defined key workers as: ‘…including but not being limited to ‘doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector…’

The government has now confirmed that optometrists, and optical practice staff, who are required to maintain essential services, fall within this definition, and their children should be allowed to attend school and childcare settings where no home-based childcare options are possible.

Updated: 1 April 2020

The optical bodies have been negotiating with the UK governments and health services about the role of optometrists in this unprecedented situation.  

On 12 April 2020, NHS England and NHS Improvement produced a statement on redeployment of optical professionals. We were disappointed that this did not make more explicit reference to optometrists’ existing clinical skills.  The GOC has also produced a statement on redeployment (PDF).

Members wishing to explore how they can help out in the NHS in England should use this link.

The OFNC has FAQs on insurance for optical professionals who take on another role during the crisis.

We understand, however, that there is a temporary pause in the recruitment of NHS volunteers, and that optometrists are not specifically mentioned.  We have asked NHS England and NHS Improvement to add optometrists to the list of healthcare professionals who can register to volunteer
 

Updated: 21 April 2020

Yes. As well as the poster advising patients not to attend if they have symptoms of COVID-19 we have designed a new poster to display to let patients know that you are only available to provide essential and urgent eye care services: 

Download the COVID-19 symptoms poster for England (PDF, 40.5KB)

Download the COVID-19 symptoms poster for Northern Ireland (PDF, 40.7KB)

Download the COVID-19 symptoms poster for Scotland (PDF, 41.4KB)

Download the COVID-19 symptoms poster for Wales (PDF, 40.7KB)

Poster pack for England

Resource pack for Scotland (direct download 21MB)

Updated: 28 May 2020

Domiciliary visits have been suspended by the Scottish, Northern Ireland and Welsh governments. There is currently no formal advice on domiciliary eyecare visits in England, but NHS England has stated that clinical support to social care, care homes and domiciliary care should continue.

In view of the advicethat people should not visit patients at risk who are in care homes, we advise that optometrists should only provide essential services to domiciliary patients who are in the high risk groups (over 70, those with a pre-existing health condition or those who are pregnant).

Updated: 24 March

We understand the difficulties you face in running a practice with staff who have been advised to self isolate. The Welsh Assembly Government has agreed to pay practices a monthly income based on the practice average NHS claims over the previous three year period, and similar provisions have been made in Scotland. Northern Ireland has also made arrangements for financial support for contractors. 

The Optical Fees Negotiating Committee is currently meeting with NHS England to agree what financial support will be available to practices in England. This page will be updated when more information is available. 

The Westminster government has announced a support package for businesses. In the meantime, there is advice from other organisations to support your business. For example:

• http://www.acas.org.uk/coronavirus 
• https://www.fsb.org.uk/resources-page/advice-to-small-businesses-and-fsb-members-about-the-novel-coronavirus-covid-19.html

Updated: 1 April 2020

This is a very difficult time, particularly for those who are unable to work from home. You should discuss with your employer what support they can give you. If you are ill, Statutory Sick Pay will now be paid from day one, instead of day four, for those affected by coronavirus. Check current government advice. The CBI have advised that while there is still legal uncertainty about whether preventative self-isolation qualifies for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), the Westminster government has announced its intention for the law to apply in this way. 

The Westminster government has announced a package of support measures for workers.

Updated: 1 April 2020

The Westminster government has now announced support for self-employed people in a similar vein to that for those who are employed. 

In addition, the College is urging NHS England to provide the same level of financial support to primary care optometry practices in England during the COVID-19 pandemic as in the rest of the UK.

FODO has developed some guidance that you may find useful.

Updated: 1 April 2020

Our patient information on a range of conditions, including AMD, blepharitis and flashes and floaters, is available for free on lookafteryoureyes.org  – our public website. We recommend that you direct your patients here for phone- and desktop-friendly information during the lockdown period.
 
You can also link straight through to lookafteryoureyes.org from your practice website.
 
Our printing company are unable to fulfil orders for printed patient leaflets at this time, so we have also temporarily made our patient leaflets available online. Members can fill in our form to receive PDF versions to use for the duration of the lockdown only. The PDF versions were not designed for use on websites, so please direct your patients to lookafteryoureyes.org in the first instance.

While the current clinical advice on the delivery of essential, urgent and emergency eyecare remains in place, and routine sight testing remains suspended across the UK until further notice, the UK government has published guidance to help employers understand how to work safely through the pandemic. It aims to support employers “get their businesses back up and running and workplaces operating safely”. The most relevant guidance for practice owners are: 

• Shops and branches
• Office and contact centres

There is also a COVID-19 secure compliance notice you can display once you have completed actions in the official guidance.
These guidance apply to England – See guidance for Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland
 
Optometrists should read the guidance above alongside the College of Optometrists and country-specific guidance at the top of this page. 
 
We are now in the process of developing guidance for practitioners in all four nations as we move out of lockdown and through the next phases of the pandemic.

New guidance has now been issued by the national public health bodies. This includes guidance for primary care. It is now recommended that, for direct patient care at less than 2m, even if the patient is not currently a possible or confirmed case of COVID-19, clinicians should wear single-use disposable aprons and gloves (changed for each patient). 

In addition to gloves and aprons, practitioners are advised to risk assess whether they feel they need to wear a fluid-resistant surgical face mask (type IIR) and/or eye/face protection such as goggles or a visor if there is an anticipated or likely risk of contamination with splashes, droplets of blood or body fluids. If masks and/or eye/face protection are worn they can be worn for the whole session (‘sessional use’) rather than changed for each patient, unless they become soiled, damaged or uncomfortable. 

Optometrists who are seeing patients should follow the same advice and we recommend that all optometrists working within 2m of a patient should choose to wear a surgical mask. For further information on assessing risk, see section 7 of the “COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE)” guidance.

Advice on the specification of PPE can be found here.

Fluid-resistant face masks are worn to protect the wearer from the transmission of a virus by respiratory droplets, which may be released from the mouth during coughing, sneezing or speaking. They may also reduce the risk of contamination of oral and nasal mucosa by accidental touching of your mouth or nose with a contaminated hand. They can be worn for sessional or single use and must be fitted properly around the nose, but do not require a ‘fit test’.

You should also use a plastic breath shield attached to your slit lamp and disinfect this between patients. This is because studies show that the COVID-19 virus is viable for up to 72 hours on plastic surfaces. You should avoid speaking at the slit lamp.

Primary care practices should not be seeing patients with symptoms of COVID-19. If you work in a secondary care setting where this is the case, please check table 1 of the national guidance. To preserve supplies of PPE and not require people to make visits to the practice unnecessarily, you should conduct a virtual consultation in the first instance.

Updated: 19 May 2020

Respiratory droplets from infected people, who may be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic, are a major mode of transmission of the virus. These may be generated by coughing, sneezing, talking and breathing. Fluid-resistant face masks are designed to protect others, but may also protect the wearer from respiratory droplets. They may also reduce the risk of contamination of oral and nasal mucosa by accidental touching of the wearer’s mouth or nose with a contaminated hand. They can be worn for sessional or single-use and must be fitted properly around the nose, but do not require a ‘fit test’. 

Updated: 19 May 2020

Wearing a FFP3 or FFP2 mask is not recommended for primary care optometrists seeing non-Covid-19 symptomatic patients. However, if you wish to wear a FFP3 mask this requires a fit test. If a FFP3 mask is not available the HSE advises that FFP2 may be an acceptable, pragmatic compromise. HSE advises that it is widely accepted by industry that the N95 masks are comparable to FFP2 masks.

Updated: 19 May 2020

As respiratory droplets can be released from coughing, sneezing, speaking or breathing, UK Government advice is that people who work in an enclosed environment, where it is not possible to maintain social distancing, should cover their nose and mouth with a face covering. This would apply to your patients, and other members of the practice team if they are not able to maintain a 2m distance from others. This does not mean that everyone should wear a surgical mask, however, and there is advice on how to make a face-covering here.

Updated: 19 May 2020

When using PPE you must be fastidious to avoid transmitting the virus via your hands or your clothes. Do not take the mask on and off between patients and do not allow it to dangle on your chest. Written instructions can be found here and useful videos on how to put on and take off PPE can be found here and here. 

Updated: 9 April 2020

Clinical waste is normally disposed of in the clinical waste stream. However, due to the unprecedented levels of PPE waste being generated, your waste provider may recommend that you double bag PPE waste and store it in a safe area for 72 hours and then dispose of it in your normal trade waste stream. Contact your waste provider for further advice.

PPE is not a substitute for distancing and scrupulous hand-washing, which remain essential.

You should also continue to maintain a high standard of infection control every time. Clean the consulting room door handle, computer keyboard, slit lamp joystick and clinical area regularly with an alcohol wipe.
 

The College is working with the other UK optical bodies to raise this issue with national governments, to ensure that optometrists and other primary eye care staff are provided with appropriate PPE so that they can meet the urgent and essential eye care needs of their patients and protect themselves and their communities.

In addition, together with the other optical bodies, we have written to NHS England and NHS Improvement, Public Health England and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges to stress the importance of PPE for optometrists who are providing urgent and essential eyecare services and ask that they ensure that optical practices are provided with sufficient quantities. We understand that national public health bodies are working to arrange supply of PPE to optical practices. We will update our website when we have further details on this.

Updated: 9 April 2020

If you need to see patients for essential or urgent eye care, as well as using normal infection control procedures, and regular and scrupulous hand hygiene, there are things you can do to minimise the risk to you and your patients. Read our guidance for optometrists.

If the patient refuses to wear a face covering you should consider whether there is a reasonable reason for this, such as the patient having a respiratory condition or a learning difficulty. In such circumstances you may wish to see the patient without them wearing a face covering, although if this is the case you should adapt the examination so that you do not use a handheld instrument. If the patient does not bring a face covering to the practice, you may choose to provide them with one or ask the patient to come back at another time with a face covering to wear. Young children under three should not be asked to wear a face covering. If you need to perform direct ophthalmoscopy on a child under three you should risk assess whether the examination can be postponed to when the social distancing measures have been relaxed.

We advise that if you are unable to get the PPE to enable you to see patients according to national guidance, you should not conduct face to face consultations at a distance of less than 2m. We realise that this means that in most cases you will be unable to see patients. However, you can provide other services that do not require face to face contact, such as supplying spectacles or contact lenses by post, or offering telephone or video advice. 

Updated: 9 April 2020

We advise using SL-BIO rather than direct ophthalmoscopy so that you can maintain a safe distance from the patient as much as possible. However, we recognise that there are occasions where this is not possible, such as for very young children, or when the patient is unable to reach the slit lamp. Fundal imaging is a useful technique, but it does not replace the use of SL-BIO, as it does not examine the patient's external eye, anterior chamber, or media. We also recognise that not all practices have fundus cameras, and that there are some patients who cannot reach the camera. In these instances, as an internal examination is one of the legally required parts of a sight test, if there is no alternative but to use direct ophthalmoscopy, you should minimise the infection risk by asking the patient to wear a face covering if possible (this may not be possible for very young children).

Updated: 16 June 2020

During the pandemic, we advise that you should only perform tonometry if it is clinically necessary, based on the individual patient circumstances, rather than doing it as a blanket test on everyone in a certain category. To maintain a safe distance, use a slit lamp mounted (such as Goldmann) or stand-mounted tonometer where possible. If this is not possible, you should risk-assess whether to use a handheld device such as an iCare, Perkins or Pulsair.

Updated: 19 June 2020

We recognise that this is a very new situation for optometrists, so we have written guidance to help you consider how best to have a telephone or video consultation with a patient. We have also designed a telephone consultation record sheet which you may choose to use if you wish. It is important to realise that you still need to adhere to confidentiality and data security procedures.

During the pandemic, we advise that you should only perform tests if it is clinically necessary, based on the individual patient circumstances, rather than doing it as a blanket test on everyone in a certain category. Tonometry and visual fields should be performed where it is clinically indicated or for considered at high risk by their optometrist on an individual basis. 

Updated: 19 June 2020

Routine outpatient appointments in the HES have been suspended. 

If a patient reports a serious eye condition that will require urgent or emergency hospital treatment you should direct them to the HES without asking them to come to your practice. The Royal College of Ophthalmologists advise that patients who need to be seen and treated urgently by the HES include those with suspected: 

• Glaucoma
  • acute glaucoma
  • uncontrolled very high IOP >40mmHg or rapidly progressive glaucoma
• Wet active age-related macular degeneration
• Sight threatening treatable retinovascular disease (proliferative diabetic retinopathy and CVRO)
• Acute retinal detachments (macular on, macular off < 4weeks)
• Uveitis – severe active
• Ocular oncology - active, aggressive, uncontrolled or untreated lesions
• Retinopathy of prematurity (screening and treatment)
• Endophthalmitis
• Sight threatening trauma
• Sight threatening orbital disease e.g. orbital cellulitis, severe thyroid eye disease
• Giant cell arteritis affecting vision

Updated: 8 April 2020 

Contact the appropriate local hospital for advice.

Updated: 27 March 2020

We understand that optometrists would like to use their professional judgement on this, and the GOC has issued advice on this. We have a proforma to help you triage patients who have out of date contact lens specifications or spectacle prescriptions. The forms can be used by practioners completing and recording a telephone review and then issuing a temporary supply.

There have been several media reports relating to the safety of contact lens use in this pandemic. We have seen no evidence to suggest that wearing contact lenses would increase a person’s chances of contracting COVID-19. Patients can continue to use their contact lenses as normal if they do not have COVID-19 or any of the associated symptoms (fever, new continuous cough or anosmia (loss of taste or smell)). 

It is good general advice for patients to reduce their contact lens wearing time if they do not need to wear their lenses and can manage with spectacles, as may well be the case if they are at home more. If they wish to wear their contact lenses you should stress to patients that they should practise good contact lens hygiene as always, and that thoroughly washing their hands before and after handling their lenses is essential. 

We would also advise that if patients are ill, they stop wearing contact lenses until they are better. This applies to all illnesses, including the common cold, influenza and COVID-19.

If you wish, you may advise patients that if they are in the same household as a person with symptoms of COVID19 they may wish to stop contact lens wear until everyone in the house is well.

A paper on the important considerations for contact lens practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic has been published here.

Updated: 19 May 2020

Routine cataract operations are being postponed by the hospital, so it is likely that the number of patients coming to you will cease, and some areas are recommending that you do post-operative reviews remotely. If patients do come to you, use appropriate social distancing and infection control measures as outlined above.

Updated: 27 March 2020

If College advice is followed, patients should not attend the practice if they show signs of COVID-19 infection. However, if COVID-19 is considered possible when an appointment is already in progress, assess a suitable and safe point to bring the consultation to a close, withdraw from the room, close the door and wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Refer to the relevant national guidance for next steps.

Updated: 23 March

This is up to your professional judgement. We suggest you telephone the patient and explain the situation and ask them if they would like you to make up some spectacles for them.  If you have previous details you may be able to do this remotely (for example if they are happy for you to reglaze their spectacles, which they can post to you), and post the reglazed spectacles back to them.  If they would prefer to have a new frame then arrange for them to come into the practice for dispensing and take appropriate social distancing and infection control procedures as outlined above.

We have created a simple and easy to use visual acuity (VA) chart which patients can use at home. The chart has been designed to work at 3 metres, and will enable patients with access to an A4 printer to approximately measure their own visual acuity in advance of the remote clinical assessment. You can email the chart to patients, so a rough visual acuity can be recorded during the remote review.
 
The chart can be used at different distances to extend its range, we have included a conversion table so clinicians can easily record an approximate VA when used at 1 and 4 metres.
 
You can download and send the chart to your patients, or direct them to our public website, where they can also watch a video on how to use the chart.

Disclaimer: 

We have taken the steps necessary to ensure this test is broadly equivalent to a validated vision chart when it is used in a well-lit room, printed on an A4 size piece of white paper used at the correct distance.  However, our chart has not been independently validated as such, it is not a substitute for a vision assessment by a clinician using a correctly calibrated and validated vision test chart. The purpose of this College chart is to provide a broad evaluation of visual acuity in order to identify clinically significant sight loss in a home environment, in conjunction with a virtual clinical assessment.

The acuities given for each line are approximate equivalents to aid optometric differential diagnosis. The room illumination, chart distance and printing contrast may all vary. Optometrists should be mindful of this when considering a patient supplied self-recorded visual acuity along side other findings. However, even with these caveats, where a person can print and complete the test, the benefit of knowing an approximate and broadly equivalent level of vision, is in our view a useful aid to any telephone or video clinical review. We would welcome the development of an validated and fully automated visual acuity recording app for home use.

Updated: 22 April 2020

The DVLA has confirmed that although online services are running as normal, paper applications sent to their office in Swansea are taking longer to process. They have therefore advised that providing the patient has a current driving licence and they have not been told by their doctor or optician that they should not drive, the patient will be able to drive while the DVLA is considering their application.

The DVLA has also advised that the Government is making temporary provisions for bus and lorry drivers aged 45 or over to forego the need for a D4 medical in order to renew their driving entitlement. These changes are temporary and will only apply where the licence did not expire before 1 January 2020.

If a taxi driver needs a vision/VA or visual field test we suggest you ask the driver to check with the licensing authority as to whether this can be postponed until the social distancing measures are over. 

We have also added information on our patient-facing website, LookAfterYourEyes.org.

Updated: 18 June 2020

The GOC advises that it is still important to maintain and develop your knowledge, skills and professionalism, even during this emergency situation, and so the overall current cycle requirements for CET will remain in place to be completed by 31 December 2021.

However, the annual recommendation of six CET points has been waived for 2020.

In keeping with guidance on social distancing, the GOC will automatically allow all registrant-led peer reviews to be conducted using video-conferencing technologies. All other requirements, including the minimum period of one hour and the need to have this approved by the GOC in advance, remain in place.

Updated: 6 April 2020

Announcements and updates on the Scheme for Registration and COVID-19 can be found here.

Updated: 27 March 2020

We recognise the expertise of IP optometrists, and that this is likely to be of increasing relevance in the current situation, with patients being diverted from secondary care.

In addition, we are actively addressing the following:  

• Seeking to achieve the required regulatory change to enable IP optometrists to supervise other optometrists on IP placement, rather than a medical practitioner (ophthalmologist) having to take on this supervisory role.
• Working with optometry university departments seeking to increase optometrists’ access to the theoretical component of IP education.
• Optimising how public funding can be drawn upon to support more optometrists undertake IP education.

Through collaboration with different stakeholders, we hope that it will be possible to achieve the required sequence of changes to enable more optometrists to integrate IP into their practice.

Update: 1 April 2020
 

We have received confirmation that the GOC is not currently planning to set up a temporary register, as some other regulators have done in the current exceptional circumstances. Such arrangements, which enable practitioners who’ve retired or stepped away from practice to return, or enable students to progress into practice, are not deemed needed for the optical professions and not to reflect current needs and issues for the professions.

Where other regulators have set up temporary registers, they have expressly excluded IP from their temporary register arrangements. We understand that this is part of their risk management measures.

Although this means that optometrists who have trained for prescribing rights, but not yet obtained them will not be admitted onto the specialist register, we recognise that the broader skills that IP education helps to develop can and should be promoted as part of the broad contribution that optometrists can make to patient care.

Updated: 1 April 2020

Following the cancellation of the April 2020 Therapeutics Common Final Assessment in Independent Prescribing due to the current Covid-19 restrictions, we have been working hard to find a software solution that allows candidates to sit this examination remotely, while assuring the integrity of the assessment process. We have been keen to provide an alternative date and mode of delivery for this examination sitting as swiftly as possible.
 
We have now done this and are able to offer those candidates who were enrolled on the TCFA examination in April 2020 to sit this remotely in early May 2020. Affected candidates have been contacted by email.
 
The arrangements are still subject to GOC approval - we have submitted our proposal to run the exam remotely to the GOC, as we are required to do under GOC accreditation, and expect to receive a response on this shortly.
 
This examination sitting will be limited to those who were originally enrolled to take the TCFA on 1 April. We will release details of future remote examination sittings in due course.
 
For those candidates who have enrolled on the June 2020 TCFA examination, we will be unable to run this examination face-to-face as planned in London. We are actively pursuing arrangements to run this remotely once the rearranged April sitting is completed in May, and will be in touch with those affected candidates soon.

Further updates on the Independent Prescribing exam can be found here.

Updated: 17 April 2020

We understand how worrying this unprecedented situation is. MIND has some really useful information on their website. There are also several coronavirus community aid groups being set up for people who are self isolating, who may be able to give you some support locally. 

If you need to talk to someone you can call the Samaritans for free on 116 123.

The World Health Organisation provides a free online course for healthcare professionals which takes about an hour to complete. It may be useful for each practice lead to complete this training, but it is not compulsory.

The College now runs online COVID-19 CET courses based on the latest College and national guidance:

• How to practice safely during the COVID-19 pandemic
• How to provide telephone consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Updated: 3 July 2020