Guidance for Professional Practice

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Guidance for Professional Practice College of Optometrists Guidance for Professional Practice Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 2 About the Guidance .............................................................................................................. 2 GOC’s Standards of Practice for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians .......................... 33 Terminology ......................................................................................................................... 33 How the Guidance is organised ........................................................................................... 33 Further support for members ............................................................................................. 55 If you need a different format ............................................................................................. 55 When the Guidance will be updated ................................................................................... 55 Knowledge, skills and performance ................................................................ 66 Develop and maintain knowledge and skills ........................................................................... 66 Patient records ........................................................................................................................ 99 The routine eye examination (‘sight test’) .......................................................................... 2020 The needs led examination ................................................................................................. 2626 Examining patients who present as an emergency ............................................................. 2828 Examining patients with a disability .................................................................................... 3131 Assessing and managing patients with low vision .............................................................. 3636 Examining patients with learning disabilities ...................................................................... 4343 Examining patients with autism ......................................................................................... 5050 Examining patients with specific learning difficulties ......................................................... 5252 Examining patients with dementia or other acquired cognitive impairment ..................... 5555 The domiciliary eye examination (‘sight test’) .................................................................... 6161 Examining younger children ................................................................................................ 6565 Examining patients with diabetes mellitus ......................................................................... 7070 Examining and managing patients with an anomaly of binocular vision ............................ 7878 Examining patients who present with flashes and floaters ................................................ 8981 Examining patients who drive ............................................................................................. 9284 1 College of Optometrists Examining patients who work with display screen equipment or computers .................... 9789 Prescribing spectacles ....................................................................................................... 10193 Sale and supply of spectacles ............................................................................................ 10597 Contact lens equipment and facilities ............................................................................. 110102 Fitting contact lenses ....................................................................................................... 112104 Contact lens specification ................................................................................................ 118110 Contact lens supply ......................................................................................................... 122114 Contact lens check‐ups .................................................................................................... 128120 Contact lenses for overnight wear .................................................................................. 131123 Use and supply of drugs or medicines in optometric practice ........................................ 134126 Introduction About the Guidance This guidance is the College’s view of good practice and sets out what is expected of optometrists. It is relevant to you, whether you are an owner practitioner, partner, employee, locum, or pre-registration optometrist, and is useful to students learning about what professionalism means. It applies in all work environments, including multiples, independent practice and hospital, and is unrelated to whether or not the services described are funded by the NHS or privately. The Guidance does not change what you must do under the law. What you should in each situation will depend on good practice as well as what you are required to do by the law and your contract. College GuidanceIt helps you to ensure that you put your patients’ interests first, and work in partnership with them so they receive the best possible care. Remember that the different chapters do not exist in isolation. The guidance in the sections on Safety and quality, Communication, partnership and teamwork, and Maintaining trust are all there to underpin the advice given in the Knowledge, skills and performance section. So, when consulting the guidance, you may, for example, want to read the chapter Examining patients with learning disabilities together with the chapter Consent, or the chapter The routine eye examination (‘sight test’) with the chapter Partnership with patients. There are also some patients who fall into more than one category, for example, patients with diabetes or learning disabilities who need a domiciliary eye examination. 2 College of Optometrists The Gguidance is there to support you in making the right clinical decisions. You may decide that specific circumstances mean that, in your professional judgement, you need to take a different course of action. This is fine as long as you can justify that action. GOC’s Standards of Practice for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians The Guidance is based on the GOC’s Standards and is there to support you in putting those standards into practice. You should familiarise yourself with the Standards, and think about how our guidance and the Standards interrelate. For example, you should always recognise and work within your limits of competence and keep your knowledge and skills up to date. Similarly, while the Standard Communicate effectively with your patients obviously matches our section Communication, partnership and teamwork, it also applies, together with all other patient related Standards, to the Knowledge, skills and performance section of our Guidance. Terminology We use: must: where you have a legal or regulatory obligation to follow the guidance should: where we would normally expect you to follow that course of action. If your professional judgement leads you to take a different action, you must be able to justify that action. How the Guidance is organised The Guidance is organised in four sections: A. Knowledge, skills and performance B. Safety and quality C. Communication, partnership and teamwork D. Maintaining trust. Within each section of the Guidance are chapters which include: Key points Detailed topic information 3 College of Optometrists Useful information and links References. There is a contents page at the front and an index at the back. The search facility on the website will also help you find the guidance you need. Along with the Optometrists’ Formulary, Clinical Management Guidelines and Ethical Scenarios, the Guidance is also available on the College app for College members. CPD You can use our online ethical scenarios, which are designed to help you apply the Guidance to your everyday practice. See college- Field Code Changed optometrists.org/guidance/ethical-scenarios.html. These are also available on the College app. And you can use peer discussion case studies with your colleagues to discuss how you should approach different situations that could occur in your daily practice. See: college-optometrists.org/cpd-and-cet/online-learning/peer- Field Code Changed discussion-and-peer-review.html We have a range of online learning resources available, including webinars as well as courses on glaucoma, AMDa DOCET produces material for all registered optometrists. This includes live CET, video and audio libraries of courses on many different topics and peer discussion material. See: docet.info Higher qualifications College higher qualifications are available in contact lens practice, glaucoma, low vision, medical retina and paediatric eye care. See: college- optometrists.org/cpd-and-cet/training-and-qualifications/higher- qualifications.html Library services All College members have free access to certain databases including British Standards online via the College library. See: college-optometrists.org/the- college/library-and-information-services/online-databases-and-reports.html. In addition we provide topic updates on binocular vision eye diseases low vision, and primary care optometry 4 College of Optometrists See: college-optometrists.org/the-college/library-and-information- services.html Further support for members
Recommended publications
  • “General Optical Council” (Goc) -Further Evidence for This Council Itself to Be “Struck Off.” the Day-2 Fitness to Practise Transcript!
    Advances in Ophthalmology & Visual System Review Article Open Access “General optical council” (goc) -further evidence for this council itself to be “struck off.” the day-2 fitness to practise transcript! Abstract Volume 6 Issue 5 - 2017 At last! An honest journal serves the public. Regulatory bodies protect the public? Not always. Best known is US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) corruption. Dr David Sydney J Bush Head of Faculty of Optometry & Cardio Retinometry, Graham forced Merck Corporation to withdraw FDA approved VIOXX, (139,000 heart Cosmopolitan University Director Institute of attacks -30-40% fatal.) FDA defended Aspartame claimed “non-toxic” in completely CardioRetinometry, UK unknown total daily “expected usage” since 1974, against New Mexico’s and Hawaii’s attempted prosecutions. Contaminating multitudinous foods, consumption is unknown. Correspondence: Sydney J Bush, Skidby House, Head of Metabolites, formic acid (cyanotic) formaldehyde (genotoxic, neurotoxic) and methyl Faculty of Optometry & Cardio Retinometry, Cosmopolitan alcohol (blindness) are never safe. Grandmal seizures are suspected. A worse, hidden University, Director Institute of CardioRetinometry, Skidby problem exists with the UK’s General Optical Council colluding with corrupt medicine, England HU16 5TF, UK, Tel 00441482841842, far transcending aspartame poisoning, trivial comparably, condemning every man, woman Email and child; even the unborn to heart attack and early death. Insidiously, originating in the 1920s, corruption grew, becoming open war between the author´s nutritional Optometry, Received: April 03, 2017 | Published: April 07, 2017 and NHS doctors risking imprisonment for perjury, threatening cooperative doctors in 2003, defended by the GOC preserving heart attacks and NHS disease dependent jobs, also protected by censored, peer reviewed banned scientific papers and `NICE.´ Method: Public notices challenged authority.
    [Show full text]
  • International Comparison of Ten Medical Regulatory Systems: Egypt
    THE ARTS This PDF document was made available from www.rand.org as a public CHILD POLICY service of the RAND Corporation. CIVIL JUSTICE EDUCATION ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT Jump down to document6 HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research NATIONAL SECURITY POPULATION AND AGING organization providing objective analysis and effective PUBLIC SAFETY solutions that address the challenges facing the public SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY and private sectors around the world. SUBSTANCE ABUSE TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE Support RAND WORKFORCE AND WORKPLACE Browse Books & Publications Make a charitable contribution For More Information Visit RAND at www.rand.org Explore RAND Europe View document details Limited Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law as indicated in a notice appearing later in this work. This electronic representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for non-commercial use only. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of our research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please see RAND Permissions. This product is part of the RAND Corporation technical report series. Reports may include research findings on a specific topic that is limited in scope; present discus- sions of the methodology employed in research; provide literature reviews, survey instruments, modeling exercises, guidelines for practitioners and research profes- sionals, and supporting documentation; or deliver preliminary findings. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure that they meet high standards for re- search quality and objectivity.
    [Show full text]
  • Medical Values in a Commercial Age
    Proceedings of the British Academy, 78, 149-163 Medical Values in a Commercial Age W.F. BYNUM Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine EVENthe phrase ‘Victorian values’ is a reminder that historians write about themselves as well as the past. A volume with this title has different reverberations for us than it would have had for a historian of Lytton Strachey’s generation, and even the inclusion of a paper on medicine testifies to recent changes in historical perceptions and practice. Neither science nor medicine rated a chapter in G.M. Young’s Early Victorian Britain, and only three decades ago, Walter Houghton’s Victorian Frame of Mind contained but one brief reference to medicine and only cursory material on what is now seen as a much more central Victorian preoccupation: health.1 The army doctor and sanitary reformer Edmund Parkes (1819-1875) was speaking as a Victorian as much as he was as a doctor when he urged young doctors ‘Never [to] think of your life, but always of your health, which alone can make life useful’.2 Parkes’s coupling of health and usefulness was high praise indeed, for usefulness could easily have served alongside Duty, Thrift and Self-Help as a marketable volume by that quintessential Victorian Samuel Smiles, himself of course originally a trained doctor. In fact, an episode in Smiles’s early career points to the theme which I shall discuss here. After a medical Read 13 December 1990. 0The British Academy 1992. G.M. Young (ed.), Early Victorian England, 1830-1865, 2 vols (London, 19h); Walter Houghton, The Victorian Frame of Mind, 1830-1870 (New Haven, 1957).
    [Show full text]
  • Check Your Optician Is Registered Gocpatientsbooklet1qx 5/8/10 11:30 Page 2
    GOCPatientsBooklet1QX 5/8/10 11:30 Page 1 Check your optician is registered GOCPatientsBooklet1QX 5/8/10 11:30 Page 2 This booklet tells you who we, the General Optical Council (GOC), are. It also tells you what we do and how our services can help you. About us We regulate opticians, students training to be opticians and optical businesses in the UK. There are currently around 23,500 optometrists, dispensing opticians, student opticians and optical businesses on our registers. Our powers come from the Opticians Act 1989. What do the different words mean? An optometrist is the person who tests your sight. They can also fit and supply glasses or contact lenses. A dispensing optician is the person who fits and supplies your glasses or contact lenses. Ophthalmologists and ophthalmic medical practitioners (OMPs) are medically-qualified doctors who specialise in eye conditions. They are also allowed to test your sight and fit and supply glasses and contact lenses. Ophthalmologists and OMPs are registered by the General Medical Council. In this booklet we describe optometrists and dispensing opticians as ‘opticians’. 2 We describe people who are registered with us as ‘registrants’. We use these terms to make it clearer for you. What is regulation? Regulators protect the public by: • restricting who can practise a profession; • making sure that their registrants are suitably qualified; and • making sure that their registrants are fit to practise safely. We are one of nine healthcare regulators in the UK. The other regulators are: • the General Chiropractic Council; • the General Dental Council; • the General Medical Council; • the General Osteopathic Council; • the Health Professions Council; • the Nursing and Midwifery Council; • the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland; and • the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
    [Show full text]
  • The State of Medical Education and Practice in the UK: 2013
    Summary: The state of medical education and practice in the UK: 2013 Our third report on the state of The changing shape of the profession medical education and practice uses and medical education (chapter 1) General Medical Council (GMC) Shape of the profession since 2007 The number of doctors on the register has increased and other data to provide a picture substantially from 244,540 doctors in 2007 to of the medical profession in the 252,553 in 2012. UK and to identify some of the Overall, the most substantial change in this period challenges it faces. has been the growth in the number of female doctors. But now this seems to be slowing: 55% of We hope this report will encourage discussion and medical students were female in 2012, compared debate about some of the practical steps we and with 61% in 2003 and 57% in 2007. others could take in better supporting doctors and improving patient care. 27% of doctors on the register were international medical graduates in 2012, but the supply of these This year we have focused on complaints to the GMC doctors is reducing and the group is ageing. The to see if we can understand more about them and number of international medical graduates under 30 whether they can help us identify areas of risk within years old decreased by 61% between 2007 and 2012. medical practice. Graduates from the UK and European Economic Area (EEA) are now filling this gap as fewer international But the report needs to be seen in the wider context medical graduates are able to start postgraduate – the overall standard of medical practice in the UK training in the UK.
    [Show full text]
  • Performance Review
    Annual review of performance 2017/18 General Chiropractic Council About the Professional Standards Authority The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care1 promotes the health, safety and wellbeing of patients, service users and the public by raising standards of regulation and voluntary registration of people working in health and care. We are an independent body, accountable to the UK Parliament. We oversee the work of nine statutory bodies that regulate health professionals in the UK and social workers in England. We review the regulators’ performance and audit and scrutinise their decisions about whether people on their registers are fit to practise. We also set standards for organisations holding voluntary registers for people in unregulated health and care occupations and accredit those organisations that meet our standards. To encourage improvement, we share good practice and knowledge, conduct research and introduce new ideas including our concept of right-touch regulation.2 We monitor policy developments in the UK and internationally and provide advice to governments and others on matters relating to people working in health and care. We also undertake some international commissions to extend our understanding of regulation and to promote safety in the mobility of the health and care workforce. We are committed to being independent, impartial, fair, accessible and consistent. More information about our work and the approach we take is available at www.professionalstandards.org.uk. 1 The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care was previously known as the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence 2 Right-touch regulation revised (October 2015). Available at www.professionalstandards.org.uk/policy-and-research/right-touch-regulation Contents 1.
    [Show full text]
  • David Little- (01-10284) ______
    BEFORE THE FITNESS TO PRACTISE COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL OPTICAL COUNCIL GENERAL OPTICAL COUNCIL F(20)43 AND DAVID LITTLE- (01-10284) ___________________________________________________________________ DETERMINATION OF A SUBSTANTIVE HEARING AGREED PANEL DISPOSAL (ADP) 8 APRIL 2021 ___________________________________________________________________ Committee Members: Mr Ian Crookall (Chair/Lay) Ms Asmita Naik (Lay) Mr Mark McLaren (Lay) Ms Kalpana Theophilus (Optometrist) Mr Amit Jinabhai (Optometrist) Legal adviser: Ms Megan Ashworth GOC Presenting Officer: Ms Alecsandra Manning-Rees Registrant: Not present but represented in his absence Registrant representative: Jane Oldfield [Counsel] Muna Rashid [AOP] Hearings Officer: Ms A Shabani Facts found proved: 1(a)-(g); 2(a)-(g); 3(a)-(i); 4(a)-(i); 5(a)-(h); 6(a)-(h); 7(a)-(g); 8(a)-(j); 9; and 10 Facts not found proved: none Misconduct: Yes Impairment: Currently Impaired Sanction: Suspension Order 12 months, no review ordered Immediate order: No ___________________________________________________________________ ALLEGATION The Council alleges that you, David Little, a registered optometrist whilst working at [redacted]: 1. In response to a request from NHS Dumfries & Galloway you resubmitted Patient A’s record card for the examination dated 10 June 2014 however before doing so you added the following information: a. “Trop.5%” [Tropicomide 0.5% eye drops] with a batch number; and/or b. the word “smooth” or “smoker” to the “Convergence” box; and/or c. Motility now described as being full; and/or d. Illegible written text, appearing to be “no Driver”, next to “PC” in the “ACC” box; and/or e. the words “macula clear” added in the “Ophthalmoscopy” box; and/or f. Distance and near phorias now quantified; and/or.
    [Show full text]
  • The General Medical Council: Fit to Practise?
    Doctors’ Policy Research Group The General Medical Council: Fit to Practise? Hilarie Williams, Christoph Lees & Magnus Boyd July 2014 Civitas: Institute for the Study of Civil Society The GMC: Fit to Practise? | 1 Authors Hilarie Williams has a special interest in the social history of medicine and the development of health policy. She graduated in medicine in 1978 and, in 1987, joined the fledgling AIDS unit at the (then) DHSS. Over the next 16 years, Hilarie worked in various health policy areas and she was Senior Medical Adviser to the Department for Education and Employment from 1994 to 2000. She currently combines part time work in medical research with being a carer and she is active in voluntary sector support for people with learning disabilities and autism. Hilarie has studied humanities with the Open University and was awarded an MSc (distinction) in the History and Philosophy of Medicine, Science and Society by Birkbeck College (University of London) in 2011. She continues to enjoy exploring historical perspectives of medicine, the medical profession and health policy. Christoph Lees has taken an interest in medical regulation, healthcare funding and access to high cost treatments. He was a founder member of Doctors for Reform (2002-2012) and the Civitas Doctors’ Policy Research Group (2013), and was Chairman of the Local Negotiating Committee at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, 2011-2013. He has informally and formally mentored many doctors who underwent disciplinary and other procedures and assessments. Christoph is a Consultant in Obstetrics & Fetal-Maternal Medicine in London and Visiting Professor at KU Leuven, Belgium. He trained at Guy’s, King’s College and St George’s Hospitals in London and obtained subspecialty accreditation at the Harris Birthright Centre for Fetal Medicine.
    [Show full text]
  • High Level Principles for Good Practice in Remote Consultations and Prescribing
    High level principles for good practice in remote consultations and prescribing This information is for all healthcare professionals with prescribing responsibilities. It sets out the shared high level principles of good practice expected of everyone when consulting and or prescribing remotely from the patient. The principles are underpinned by existing standards and guidance from professional and system regulators. Healthcare professionals should continue to follow guidance from regulatory bodies and take clinical guidance into account in their decision making. This information is not clinical guidance or new guidance from regulatory bodies. These principles have been co-authored and agreed by a range of healthcare regulators and organisations (see Annex A) Safeguards for patients accessing healthcare remotely Remote consultations and prescribing provided online, over video-link or by phone can benefit patients1, save resources and help meet public demand for more convenient access to healthcare. However, there are potential patient safety risks, particularly where services aren’t linked to a patient’s NHS GP or regular healthcare provider, and where there may be limited access to a patient’s medical records. Issues include increased attempts to gain access to medicines which can cause serious harm and the need to ensure safe ongoing monitoring of those with long term conditions. Providers of remote services and the healthcare professionals they work with must be aware of these risks and be clear about their responsibilities for protecting patients. Patients can expect to have effective safeguards in place to protect them when they receive advice and treatment remotely. Safeguards are necessary whether the consultation happens in the context of a continuing treating relationship or is a one- off interaction between a patient and a healthcare professional.
    [Show full text]
  • List of Designated Bodies Below You Will Find an A-Z List of Designated Bodies (DB), Their Responsible Officer (RO) and the DB Email Address That We Hold
    List of designated bodies Below you will find an A-Z list of designated bodies (DB), their Responsible Officer (RO) and the DB email address that we hold. Please take care when using the following email addresses, especially if you intend to send confidential information. Sometimes the email addresses we hold become out of date. Please check with the intended recipient if in doubt. If there is no email address it is because we do not hold one. We have approved a number of suitable persons. You can find our list of GMC approved suitable persons at: http://www.gmc-uk.org/Revalidation___Suitable_Person_details___DC4964.pdf_53912287.pdf We update this list on a weekly basis. This list was last updated on 20 September 2021. Details of responsible officers are provided to the GMC by each designated body. The GMC is not responsible for the appointment of responsible officers. If you have any queries regarding the responsible officer details for an individual designated body please contact the designated body. RO Title RO First Name RO Last Name RO UID DB Email Address 21st Century Clinic Ltd Dr Philip Dobson 3279643 [email protected] 4 Ways Healthcare Ltd Dr John Timmis 2273581 [email protected] 4Recruitment Services Ltd Dr Timothy Nuthall 3691263 [email protected] 58 Queen Square Mr Nigel Mercer 2626770 [email protected] Abicare Health Solutions Ltd Dr Harrison Offiong 7059321 [email protected] ABL Health Ltd Dr Francis Andrews 3334715 [email protected] About Health Ltd Dr Uma Krishnamoorthy 4754750 [email protected]
    [Show full text]
  • Performance Review 2016/17
    Annual review of performance 2016/17 General Chiropractic Council About the Professional Standards Authority The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care1 promotes the health, safety and wellbeing of patients, service users and the public by raising standards of regulation and voluntary registration of people working in health and care. We are an independent body, accountable to the UK Parliament. We oversee the work of nine statutory bodies that regulate health professionals in the UK and social workers in England. We review the regulators’ performance and audit and scrutinise their decisions about whether people on their registers are fit to practise. We also set standards for organisations holding voluntary registers for people in unregulated health and care occupations and accredit those organisations that meet our standards. To encourage improvement we share good practice and knowledge, conduct research and introduce new ideas including our concept of right-touch regulation.2 We monitor policy developments in the UK and internationally and provide advice to governments and others on matters relating to people working in health and care. We also undertake some international commissions to extend our understanding of regulation and to promote safety in the mobility of the health and care workforce. We are committed to being independent, impartial, fair, accessible and consistent. More information about our work and the approach we take is available at www.professionalstandards.org.uk. 1 The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care was previously known as the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence. 2 Right-touch regulation revised (October 2015). Available at www.professionalstandards.org.uk/policy-and-research/right-touch-regulation.
    [Show full text]
  • Taking Revalidation Forward: Improving the Process
    Taking revalidation forward Improving the process of relicensing for doctors Sir Keith Pearson’s review of medical revalidation January 2017 Contents Acknowledgements Revalidation is Executive summary and key recommendations 1 About this review Reasons for my review Scope and approach – revalidation through a patient lens Contributors to this review Documentary evidence informing the review Revalidation – influences and objectives Identified failings in healthcare systems Rising patient expectations Changes in the medical profession What revalidation set out to achieve How revalidation works The medical register and the licence to practise Outline of the revalidation model My view on the purpose of revalidation How this report is set out 2 The impact of revalidation to date Revalidation means that all licensed doctors must demonstrate they are up to date and fit to practise Doctors are meeting the requirements of revalidation The licence to practise must be actively maintained But I hear concerns that the process is not equally robust for all doctors Revalidation underpins the professional standing of doctors Revalidation is a national framework but it commands ownership and confidence at the local level There is evidence of more reflective practice as a result of revalidation But the process feels burdensome and ineffective to some doctors Revalidation has embedded annual whole practice appraisal Revalidation has significantly increased appraisal rates But the quality and consistency of appraisal varies 1 Contents Taking revalidation
    [Show full text]