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: Team Reflection

Two events-faulty equipment and a near miss-show how candour and learning work together to strengthen systems without shaming people. ^[5]

Scenario 7 - Faulty equipment

Scenario

A clinic's OCT machine produced degraded images for a week due to a calibration fault. During that time clinicians reviewed scans that were of reduced quality; subsequently one case of macular oedema was missed and the patient required prompt re-evaluation.

How can the team be candid with the patient and support learning?

Inform the patient promptly with an apology and a plain explanation of the equipment fault and its impact. ^[1] ^[3] ^[2]
Arrange urgent review and any needed treatment, providing written details of the plan. ^[1] ^[5]
Log the incident, notify the supplier/engineering, and record timelines of actions taken. ^[4] ^[5]
Introduce and document controls: daily calibration checks, fault alarms routed to a named owner, and a second-reader step for degraded images. ^[4] ^[6]
Share learning across sites and verify changes via audit. ^[5] ^[8]

Scenario 8 - Near miss

Scenario

A dispensing error was identified at the final check before issuing spectacles; the incorrect lenses would have been given but the mistake was caught and the patient never wore the incorrect spectacles.

Does candour still apply, and how?

Where the patient was exposed to risk or inconvenience (for example, delay), provide an explanation of what nearly happened, apologise for the delay, and give a brief outline of the fix. ^[3] ^[1]
Update timelines and consider any goodwill gesture in line with policy. ^[9]
Record the near miss, analyse causes, and introduce process changes (for example, barcode matching and an independent final check). ^[7] ^[1]
Use the event in team learning to prevent future escapes. ^[5]

Accountability and verification (for both scenarios)

Accountability details to record: who led patient contact; what remedial actions occurred; when supplier or engineering steps were taken; why selected controls are expected to reduce recurrence. ^[2] ^[1]

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 (CQC) (page updated 2024) Find (opens in a new tab)
Openness and honesty when things go wrong: The professional duty of candour — General Medical Council (GMC) (published 2015) Find (opens in a new tab)
Vigilance reporting requirements — Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) / GOV.UK Find (opens in a new tab)
Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) — NHS England (2024) Find (opens in a new tab)
Added value of double reading in diagnostic radiology, a systematic review — Håkan Geijer; Insights into Imaging (2018) Find (opens in a new tab)
Effect of Bar-code Technology on the Incidence of Medication Dispensing Errors and Potential Adverse Drug Events in a Hospital Pharmacy — Eric G Poon et al.; AMIA Annu Symp Proc (2005) Find (opens in a new tab)
Clinical audit: a guide for NHS Boards and partners — Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) (2021) Find (opens in a new tab)
Early resolution and providing a remedy (good complaint handling guidance) — Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) 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 inform affected patients with a plain explanation and a sincere apology when an equipment fault causes harm or delay.
Arrange urgent review and necessary treatment, provide written details and a named contact for follow-up.
Log incidents, notify suppliers/engineering, and implement technical and process controls (daily calibration checks, fault alarms with named owners, second-reader for degraded images).
For near misses, explain what nearly happened, apologise for any inconvenience or delay, update timelines and consider goodwill gestures per policy.
Record near misses, perform cause analysis and introduce process changes (eg barcode matching, independent final checks) to prevent recurrence.
Share de-identified learning across sites and verify improvements through short audits, spot-checks and time-to-fix metrics.
Document accountability details: who led patient contact, what remedial actions occurred, when supplier steps were taken and why chosen controls should reduce recurrence.

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)

Learning from Incidents Reflection & Improvement

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 4: Team Reflection’. Mecourse Lifelong Learning [Online]. Available at: https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-4-team-reflection [Accessed 12 May 2026].

Vancouver

Mecourse Lifelong Learning. Scenario Page 4: Team Reflection [Internet]. Mecourse Lifelong Learning; 2025 Aug 22 [cited 2026 May 12]. Available from: https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-4-team-reflection.

Chicago

Mecourse Lifelong Learning. “Scenario Page 4: Team Reflection.” 2025. https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-4-team-reflection. Accessed May 12, 2026.

APA

Mecourse Lifelong Learning. (2025, August 22). Scenario Page 4: Team Reflection. https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-4-team-reflection

IEEE

Mecourse Lifelong Learning, “Scenario Page 4: Team Reflection.” Mecourse Lifelong Learning. https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-4-team-reflection (Accessed: May 12, 2026).

AMA

Mecourse Lifelong Learning. Scenario Page 4: Team Reflection. Mecourse Lifelong Learning. Published August 22, 2025. Accessed May 12, 2026. https://www.mecourse.com/scenario-page-4-team-reflection.

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: Team Reflection

Scenario 7 - Faulty equipment

Scenario 8 - Near miss

Accountability and verification (for both scenarios)

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)