Reading List

This Reading List supports learning from the course Why Consent Matters for UK optical professionals and focuses on practical UK guidance, law and ophthalmic resources. Use these sources to apply valid, informed and proportionate consent in everyday practice.

Core standards and guidance

• General Optical Council Standard 3: Obtain valid consent Core professional requirement for optometrists and dispensing opticians on valid consent.
• GOC guidance on consent Practical guidance on applying consent, capacity, voluntariness and recording in optical practice.
• GMC Decision making and consent Cross-profession principles and seven key consent standards for clinical conversations (December 2024).
• NICE guideline NG197: Shared decision making Evidence-based recommendations for embedding shared decision making in routine care (June 2021).

UK law and case law

• Mental Capacity Act 2005 Statutory test and best-interests framework for adults who may lack capacity.
• Children Act 1989 Legal framework underpinning decisions involving children and parental responsibility.
• Human Rights Act 1998 Protects autonomy and private life, informing consent and information-sharing duties.
• Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board Supreme Court judgment establishing disclosure of material risks and reasonable alternatives (March 2015).

Capacity and consent in practice

• GMC 0-18 years: guidance for all doctors How to assess capacity and involve families when treating children and young people.
• College of Optometrists: Capacity to consent - adults Applying the Mental Capacity Act principles in optometric care.
• College of Optometrists: Capacity to consent - children and young people Practical guidance on Gillick competence and involving parents appropriately.

Inclusive communication and accessibility

• Accessible Information Standard Overview of legal duties and the six steps to meet communication and information needs (June 2025).
• Accessible Information Standard - implementation guidance Detailed actions for identifying, recording, flagging, sharing, meeting and reviewing needs (June 2025).
• Guidance for commissioners: interpreting and translation services in primary care What safe use of professional interpreters looks like and how to arrange support (March 2019).

Record keeping and documentation

• GOC Standard 8: Maintain adequate patient records Sets expectations for clear, contemporaneous records including how consent was obtained.
• College of Optometrists: Patient records - what to record Practical checklist for proportionate documentation of consent, risks and advice.

Ophthalmology-specific resources

• RCOphth Consent for ophthalmology procedures College recommendations for robust consent conversations in ophthalmology, including timing and material risk (May 2020).
• RCOphth Intravitreal injections consent and checklist recommendations Procedure-specific consent guidance for retina services (March 2024).
• College of Optometrists patient resources Plain-language leaflets to support explanations and reinforce informed choices.

Safeguarding and best interests

• NHS England Safeguarding accountability and assurance framework National framework clarifying when and how to act in the public interest and best interests where consent is absent or overridden (June 2024).
• NHS: Children and young people - consent to treatment Plain-English explanation of Gillick competence, parental responsibility and when courts may intervene (December 2022).