Welcome

About this course

Optical equipment affects patient safety, record accuracy, clinic efficiency and the patient experience. Risk arises when staff use devices without training, clean them incorrectly, miss faults, mix clean and used items, or leave unclear notes.

This course is for optical assistants, reception and admin staff, retail and dispensing support staff, practice managers, locums, temporary staff and other optical support workers. It is practical and role-specific. It does not train support staff to diagnose conditions, interpret clinical outputs, set referral urgency, repair equipment or apply specialist decontamination methods.

Equipment covered includes pre-screening devices, imaging and visual field equipment, lensmeters, frame adjustment and dispensing tools, trial frames, rulers, contact lens area items, software-linked devices and room-reset equipment.

Why this course matters

• Equipment can look simple: pressing a button is only one part of safe use.
• Cleaning is equipment-specific: the wrong wipe, spray or contact time can leave contamination or damage a device.
• Results affect care: poor-quality images, odd readings or missing data need reporting, not explaining away.
• Faults need ownership: a damaged cable, overheating device or repeated error message must not remain in routine use.
• Records protect continuity: cleaning, checks, faults, handovers and incidents need enough detail for others to act.

A simple learner spine

• Check: confirm the patient, task, equipment condition, cleaning status and local instructions.
• Use as trained: work only within sign-off, supervision and SOP limits.
• Clean: follow manufacturer and local cleaning instructions exactly.
• Separate: keep clean, used, faulty and quarantined items clearly apart.
• Report: escalate faults, contamination, unexpected outputs and unsafe conditions promptly.
• Record: document checks, cleaning, handovers, faults and follow-up as local procedure requires.

On completing the course you should be more confident using and cleaning optical equipment safely and know when to stop, ask, report and record.