Reading List

This Reading List supports the course Appropriate Clinical Care for UK optical professionals and focuses on practical, UK-specific standards, pathways and tools.

Core standards and professional duties

• GOC Standard 7: Conduct appropriate assessments, examinations, treatments and referrals Sets the core expectation for proportionate testing, clinical reasoning and timely referral in UK practice.
• GOC Standard 5: Keep your knowledge and skills up to date Requires CPD, audit and reflection to sustain safe, effective decision making.
• GOC Standard 6: Recognise, and work within, your limits of competence Clarifies scope, referral thresholds and supervision responsibilities.
• GOC guidance on consent How to obtain, document and review valid consent, including capacity and withdrawal.
• NICE guideline NG197: Shared decision making Practical steps to involve patients in choices and communicate benefits, risks and alternatives (June 2021).

Clinical assessment, examination and records

• College of Optometrists: The routine eye examination or sight test Explains legal minimum requirements and how to add proportionate tests beyond the minimum.
• College of Optometrists: Patient records Details what to record, pertinent negatives, reliability, and contemporaneous entries.
• College of Optometrists: Examining patients who present as an emergency Defines emergencies in optometry and immediate action options in primary care.

Inclusive communication and accessibility

• Accessible Information Standard NHS duties to identify, record and meet information and communication needs for disabled people.
• Accessible Information Standard implementation guidance Step-by-step advice, templates and self-assessment for meeting AIS requirements (June 2025).
• Guidance for Commissioners: Interpreting and Translation Services in Primary Care Official guidance on arranging professional interpreters and avoiding reliance on family members.

Urgent and emergency eye care

• College of Optometrists Annex 4: Urgency of referrals table Quick reference for selecting correct urgency for common presentations and red flags.
• RCOphth quality standards for ophthalmic A&E and urgent care services Standards linking community optometry with hospital urgent pathways to ensure safe escalation.

UK condition-specific pathways

• NICE guideline NG81: Glaucoma diagnosis and management Testing, referral thresholds and management for glaucoma and OHT (last reviewed March 2025).
• RCOphth clinical guideline: The management of angle-closure glaucoma Evidence-based assessment and emergency management considerations for angle-closure.
• NICE quality standard QS180: Serious eye disorders Priority quality statements for cataract, glaucoma and AMD including timely CVI (February 2019).

Patient safety and improvement

• NHS Patient Safety Incident Response Framework Proportionate approaches to learning from incidents and strengthening local systems.
• Learn from Patient Safety Events service National portal for reporting and learning from safety events in primary and secondary care.

Patient information and tools

• College of Optometrists patient leaflets and resources Plain-language materials to support explanations, safety-netting and self-care.
• The Royal College of Ophthalmologists patient information booklets Condition-specific booklets to signpost during consultations and referral discussions.