Search for a course

Home
Courses
My Notes
Pricing

Search for a course

Type your query, then click the icon or press Enter.

GOC Standard 19: Duty of Candour in Optical Practice

Building Trust Through Honesty and Transparency

Reputation
No token earned yet.
Reach 50 points to earn the Peridot (Trainee Level).
CPD Certificates
You have CPD Certificates for 0 courses.
Exam Cup
No cup earned yet.
Average at least 80% in exams to earn the Bronze Cup.

Course Menu

Duty of Candour in Optics
Why Candour Matters
Legal & Professional Framework
Triggers for Duty of Candour
Clinical Errors (Scenario 1)
Communicating with Patients
Apologising Appropriately
Dispensing Errors (Scenarios)
Recording and Escalation
Confidentiality Breaches
Learning from Incidents
Team Reflection: Scenarios
Reflection & Improvement
Duty of Candour - Exam Notes
Reading List
Course Completion
Take Test
Give Feedback
Record Reflections
View Certificate

Launch offer: Certificates are currently free when you create a free account and log in. Log in for free access

Scenarios: Clinical Errors

Two clinical failures-a missed referral and an incorrect prescription-illustrate candid responses that protect patients while enabling team learning.^[1]

Scenario 1 - Missed referral

Scenario

A patient attended on Friday reporting flashes and floaters. A same‑day urgent referral was discussed during the consultation but the referral was not sent. Over the weekend the issue was not escalated, and by Monday the patient re-presented with a retinal detachment requiring urgent care.

What candour steps are appropriate?

Promptly contact the patient by phone to acknowledge the error and offer an apology, explaining what is currently known without attributing blame.^[1]^[2]^[4]
Ensure urgent ophthalmology care is arranged immediately if not already in place and provide practical support (for example, arranging transport and liaison with ophthalmology).^[7]^[8]
Agree a timeframe for a written account and provide this, covering what happened, the likely impact, and the actions being taken to reduce harm.^[2]
Describe and implement system changes to prevent recurrence (for example, introduce a referral checklist and a second‑checker before closing urgent referrals), and document why these changes are expected to be effective.^[8]^[6]
Inform the indemnity provider.^[1]^[4]
Record the candour decision, the conversations held (dates and participants), and the learning actions with clear owners and target dates.^[2]^[1]

Scenario 2 - Incorrect prescription

Scenario

A spectacle prescription was transposed incorrectly when entered, producing the wrong lens specification. The patient subsequently developed headaches and reported reduced performance of work‑related tasks, prompting a complaint.

How might disclosure and apology proceed?

Promptly call the patient, apologise, and clearly explain that a recording/transposition error occurred.^[1]^[4]
Offer an immediate recheck and a no‑cost remake of the spectacles, with advice about expected symptom resolution and monitoring.^[3]^[5]
Provide a written explanation following the call and document the apology in the record.^[2]^[1]
Update processes to reduce recurrence (for example, add a transposition prompt in the practice management system and require a peer check for significant prescription changes).^[6]^[8]
Monitor residual symptoms and consider compensation where there has been financial loss.^[4]^[5]

Accountability and learning

Accountability details to record: who identified the error; what immediate clinical steps were taken; when verbal and written candour occurred; why the selected system changes are expected to prevent recurrence.^[2]^[1]
Team learning prompts: end-of-day referral sweep; high-risk data-entry alerts; brief audits of addenda quality for late corrections.^[8]^[6]^[5]

References (numbered in text)

The professional duty of candour. General Optical Council. Find (opens in a new tab)
Regulation 20: Duty of candour. Care Quality Commission. Find (opens in a new tab)
June 2024 - Duty of candour. College of Optometrists. Find (opens in a new tab)
Saying sorry. NHS Resolution. Find (opens in a new tab)
Allen Kachalia; Kenneth Sands; Melinda Van Niel; Suzanne Dodson; Stephanie Roche; Victor Novack; Maayan Yitshak-Sade; Patricia Folcarelli; Evan M. Benjamin; Alan C. Woodward; Michelle M. Mello. Effects Of A Communication-And-Resolution Program On Hospitals' Malpractice Claims And Costs. Health Affairs. 2018. Find (opens in a new tab)
Alain K Koyama; Claire-Sophie Sheridan Maddox; Ling Li; Tracey Bucknall; Johanna I Westbrook. Effectiveness of double checking to reduce medication administration errors: a systematic review. BMJ Quality & Safety. 2019. Find (opens in a new tab)
Veronica Mas-Tur; Imran Jawaid; Ali Poostchi; Seema Verma. Optometrist referrals to an emergency ophthalmology department: a retrospective review to identify current practise and development of shared care working strategies, in England. Eye. 2020. Find (opens in a new tab)
Patrick Tobin-Schnittger; Jane O’Doherty; Ray O’Connor; Andrew O’Regan. Improving quality of referral letters from primary to secondary care: a literature review and discussion paper. Primary Health Care Research & Development. 2017. Find (opens in a new tab)

Key Points

Please take a moment to review these points, reflect on their significance and consider how they apply to your own experiences.

Tick to confirm (optional):

Promptly acknowledge incidents and contact the patient with a sincere apology.
Prioritise immediate clinical safety (arrange urgent care, rechecks, transport or liaison).
Provide a timely written account describing what happened, likely impact and next steps.
Record candour conversations, decisions, owners and dates in the incident register.
Notify indemnity providers when appropriate and follow escalation routes proportionately.
Offer practical remedies (no-cost remakes, rechecks, monitoring of residual symptoms).
Implement system changes to prevent recurrence (referral checklists, PMS transposition prompts, peer checks).
Use team reflection (end-of-day referral sweep, audits, debriefs) to capture learning.

Ask Dr. Aiden

Maximum characters reached

Personalise Dr Aiden

Letting Dr Aiden know a little about you helps him personalise his responses.

Your first name:

Occupation:

Work setting:

Experience / other relevant factors:

Details Saved

Privacy & usage: All the details you enter here are optional. They are saved in this browser on this device and not on our server. They cannot be accessed by other sites you visit. When you ask Dr Aiden a question, these details are sent to OpenAI (only as part of your request) to generate a response. OpenAI may keep this data briefly for security and abuse prevention, but it is not used to train OpenAI’s models. Please avoid entering anything that could personally identify you if you are concerned about privacy.

Rate this page

Mecourse is in public beta. Courses, progress tracking, and certificates are live, but we’re still polishing the experience and adding improvements. If you spot anything odd, please let us know.

Describe the error or issue you found on this page.

Minimum 12 characters (0 / 800)

Triggers for Duty of Candour Communicating with Patients

Sign up now for a free account

Log In or Register

Enter your email to proceed:

I agree to the Terms & Conditions

Account Found

We found an account for that email.

How would you like to sign in?

Account Suspended

Your account is suspended. Please contact support if you need help restoring access.

Check Your Inbox

We've sent a magic link to
.
Click it to sign in.

(If you don't see it, please check spam.)

Enter Your Password

Password

Remember me

Incorrect password. Please try again.

Forgot your current password?

No Account Found

We couldn't find an account for .

Would you like us to send a magic link to register you instantly, or use another email?

Check Your Inbox

We've sent a magic link to create your account. Click it to finish registration.
(If you don't see it, please check spam.)

Check Your Inbox

We’ve sent a password reset link to . If you don’t see it, please check your spam folder.

An Error Occurred

Something went wrong.

Course Snapshot

Not rated yet

Length: 60 minutes CPD (1.00 CE Credits)
Appropriate for: Optometrists, Dispensing Opticians, Practice Managers, Optical Assistants, Reception Staff, Trainee clinicians and practice governance leads.
Course Price: Free
100% Online
No log in needed
Assessment requirements
To receive a CPD certificate you must view all course pages while logged in, then take a MCQ assessment.
- 10 questions, pass mark 80%.
- You have unlimited attempts.

Course tools & details Study tools, course details, quality and recommendations

Study Tools

Download course poster

Key actions for your work notice board.

Personal Development Plan

Add this course to your Personal Development Plan.

Please log in to save this to your PDP.

View my course notes Open your saved notes for this course. › Share this course Send the course link to a colleague or friend. ›

Course Details

Course Aims & Outcomes

Aim:

Objective:

Outcomes:
On course completion, you will be able to:

Cite this resource

Harvard

Mecourse Lifelong Learning (2025) ‘Scenario Page 1: Clinical Errors’. Mecourse Lifelong Learning [Online]. Available at: https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-1-clinical-errors [Accessed 12 May 2026].

Vancouver

Mecourse Lifelong Learning. Scenario Page 1: Clinical Errors [Internet]. Mecourse Lifelong Learning; 2025 Aug 22 [cited 2026 May 12]. Available from: https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-1-clinical-errors.

Chicago

Mecourse Lifelong Learning. “Scenario Page 1: Clinical Errors.” 2025. https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-1-clinical-errors. Accessed May 12, 2026.

APA

Mecourse Lifelong Learning. (2025, August 22). Scenario Page 1: Clinical Errors. https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-1-clinical-errors

IEEE

Mecourse Lifelong Learning, “Scenario Page 1: Clinical Errors.” Mecourse Lifelong Learning. https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-1-clinical-errors (Accessed: May 12, 2026).

AMA

Mecourse Lifelong Learning. Scenario Page 1: Clinical Errors. Mecourse Lifelong Learning. Published August 22, 2025. Accessed May 12, 2026. https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-1-clinical-errors.

Trust & Quality

Mecourse applies stringent Quality Controls to every course for the highest level of content integrity and accuracy in our educational resources.

Recommended Courses

Policies
Cookie Preferences
Copyright
Enquiries
About Us
Quality Assurance

GOC Standard 19: Duty of Candour in Optical Practice

Reputation

CPD Certificates

Exam Cup

Scenarios: Clinical Errors

Scenario 1 - Missed referral

Scenario 2 - Incorrect prescription

Accountability and learning

References (numbered in text) Why we include references

Key Points

Ask Dr. Aiden

Rate this page

Report an error ▼ ▲

Sign up now for a free account

Log In or Register

Account Found

Account Suspended

Check Your Inbox

Enter Your Password

No Account Found

Check Your Inbox

Check Your Inbox

An Error Occurred

Course Snapshot

Study Tools

Download course poster

Personal Development Plan

Course Details

Harvard

Vancouver

Chicago

APA

IEEE

AMA

Trust & Quality

Recommended Courses

References (numbered in text)