Reading List

These sources underpin the course and help when confirming local procedures for records, measurements, corrections, confidentiality and handover. Optical assistants do not need to memorise every legal detail, but local procedures should match current guidance.

• GOC Standard 8: Maintain adequate patient records - Core guardrail for clear, timely patient records and identifying those involved in care.
• GOC Standard 14: Maintain confidentiality and respect your patients' privacy - Supports need-to-know access, discreet handling and careful disclosure.
• GOC Standard 6: Recognise, and work within, your limits of competence - Guides recording only tasks and measurements that fall within your training and role.
• GOC Standard 9: Ensure that supervision is undertaken appropriately and complies with the law - Relevant when support staff carry out supervised or delegated optical tasks.
• GOC Standard 7: Conduct appropriate assessments, examinations, treatments and referrals - Registrar-facing standard for clinical judgement and recorded outputs.
• GOC Optical Business Standard 2.3: You have a system of governance in place - Supports learning from mistakes, record audit and service improvement.
• GOC Optical Business Standard 2.4: Confidentiality is respected - Business-level expectation for confidentiality systems and staff practice.
• GOC Optical Business Standard 3.2: Staff are suitably trained, qualified and registered - Relevant to measurement sign-off, system access and role clarity.
• GOC Optical Business Standard 3.3: Staff are adequately supervised and supported - Supports safe delegation, escalation and local induction.
• College of Optometrists: Patient records - Professional guidance on accurate, clear and timely records, continuity of care, confidentiality and access.
• College of Optometrists: Imaging - Guidance on dating images, correct patient allocation, storage and analysis responsibilities.
• College of Optometrists: Pupillary distance - Explains PD in relation to prescribing and dispensing responsibilities.
• College of Optometrists: Sale and supply of spectacles - principles - Relevant to supervised dispensing and sale/supply responsibilities.
• College of Optometrists: Prescribing spectacles - Context for prescriptions, recordkeeping and professional responsibilities.
• ICO: What is personal data? - Helps identify personal and health information in records, measurements and images.
• ICO: A guide to subject access - Explains the right to access personal data and how organisations should handle requests.
• ICO: Health information and the right of access - Advises on handling requests for health-record copies.
• ICO: Personal data breaches - a guide - Guidance for rapid escalation of wrong-recipient, wrong-record and inappropriate-access incidents.
• NHS England: Records Management Code of Practice - NHS records-management principles and retention governance for England; check the NHS England site for updates if this link moves.
• Welsh Government: Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Care 2022 - Wales-specific health and care records-management code and source document.
• Scottish Government: Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care - Scotland-specific code for data, information and records used by NHS Boards and contracted providers.
• Department of Health Northern Ireland: Good Management, Good Records - Northern Ireland health and social care records-management guidance and retention/disposal context.