About this course
About this course
Effective complaint handling means safer services, improved trust, and stronger patient relationships.
[podcast mini /media/goc-standard-18-intro.mp3]
No one enjoys receiving a complaint. It can feel personal, uncomfortable, even unfair. But here’s the truth: how we respond in those moments matters just as much as the care we provide. A well-handled complaint doesn’t just resolve an issue—it can transform frustration into trust, prevent escalation, and even strengthen the reputation of your practice.
GOC Standard 18 reminds us that complaints aren’t simply problems to close; they are opportunities. They give us insight into patient experience, highlight risks we might have missed, and create space for improvement. Responding with empathy, clarity, and fairness shows patients that their voice matters—and that we are committed to learning and improving.
This course will equip you with practical tools—templates, scripts, and investigation steps—that make complaints easier to manage and less daunting. By applying them, you’ll not only protect your practice from risk, you’ll build deeper trust with patients and foster a culture of openness, learning, and continuous improvement.
Complaints are opportunities to learn and improve care. This course shows you how to respond professionally, communicate with empathy, and resolve issues fairly. With practical strategies, you will be ready to meet GOC Standard 18 with confidence.
This course is relevant to the whole optical team, including
- Registered optical professionals wanting reliable CPD mapped to GOC Standards
- Locums, jobseekers, and overseas practitioners needing to demonstrate current knowledge
- Colleagues addressing professional challenges who require structured CPD for reflection and remediation
- Managers and teams who want consistent, defensible training
CPD Time: 60 minutes (1 CE Credit / 1 Non-interactive CPD Point)
Assessment: 10 MCQs. Pass mark 80%. more…
On passing the assessment you will immediately receive a CPD Certificate.
Customer feedback on this course
- Clear, practical and immediately useful for reception and clinical teams.
- Excellent templates — saved us time and reduced escalation.
- Strong focus on dignity and data protection; highly relevant to day-to-day practice.
- Helpful scenarios that mirror real complaints we see in practice.
- Improved our complaints meeting structure and staff confidence.
Aim:
The aim of this course is to ensure registrants meet GOC Standard 18 by responding to complaints fairly, promptly and effectively while protecting patient confidentiality and promoting learning.
Course objective:
• Clarify the legal, regulatory and professional frameworks and equip you to apply the correct pathway in practice.
• Develop practical skills for receiving, investigating, documenting and resolving complaints with empathy, neutrality and proportionate remedies.
Anticipated learning outcomes:
On course completion you will be able to:
• describe the GOC, NHS and ombudsman requirements relevant to complaints handling in their nation.
• apply a fair, transparent complaints process including prompt acknowledgement and proportionate investigation steps.
• communicate empathetically and clearly with complainants while maintaining professional boundaries.
• record complaints and data incidents securely and escalate appropriately under UK GDPR and regulatory guidance.
• reflect on complaints to identify service actions and implement measurable improvements.
GOC Framework Mapping:
Standard 13: Respect, Fairness, and Non-DiscriminationStandard 18: Responding to Complaints Effectively
Domain: Communication
Learning content:
Why Complaints Matter | Legal and Professional Framework | Four Nations Framework | Scenario Page 1: First Contact with a Complaint | Skills for Handling Complaints | Scenario Page 2: Empathy and Communication | Investigating and Resolving Complaints | Scenario Page 3: Investigating Fairly | Documentation and Confidentiality | Scenario Page 4: Record Keeping | Complaints as Learning Opportunities | Reflection and Continuous Improvement | MCQ and Summary
View full course description
GOC Standard 18: Responding to Complaints Effectively in Optical Practice
Course Description
Why Complaints Matter
Explains why complaints support patient safety, trust and continuous improvement. Covers practical habits for dignified, proportionate responses and the role complaints play in service improvement.
Legal and Professional Framework
Summarises GOC standards, NHS statutory complaints routes, CQC regulations, Consumer Rights Act, UK GDPR/DPA and duty of candour. Focuses on remedies, documentation and openness when harm occurs.
Four Nations Framework
Details which ombudsman and complaint routes operate in each UK nation and how to handle mixed NHS/private episodes. Highlights common principles and cross-border considerations.
Scenario Page 1: First Contact with a Complaint
Practical scenarios for first contact: de-escalation at reception, prompt acknowledgement, recording first contact, interim actions and setting named contacts and timelines.
Skills for Handling Complaints
Covers active listening, empathy, avoiding defensiveness, plain-English communication, accessibility, cultural awareness, team alignment and staff support.
Scenario Page 2: Empathy and Communication
Scenarios that balance empathy with explanation, address spectacles and service complaints, offer follow-up options and document agreed plans.
Investigating and Resolving Complaints
Structured approach to investigations: planning scope, fact-finding without bias, collecting records and interviews, choosing proportionate remedies and communicating findings.
Scenario Page 3: Investigating Fairly
Case-based guidance on investigating missed referrals and staff behaviour issues, identifying evidence sources, supporting staff and recording accountability and learning.
Documentation and Confidentiality
Explains what to record in complaint files, secure storage and role-based access, GDPR principles, breach handling, and issues of capacity, consent and representation.
Scenario Page 4: Record Keeping
Practical steps for logging informal complaints, responding to alleged data breaches, containment, risk assessment and linking records to safety systems.
Complaints as Learning Opportunities
Shows how to convert complaints into actions using root cause analysis, prioritisation, 'You said, we did' communications, measurable improvement and re-audit.
Reflection and Continuous Improvement
Encourages personal and team reflection, monthly testing cycles, system design for sustained behaviour, staff wellbeing and closing the loop with complainants.
Course Completion
You will complete a feedback survey, take a multiple-choice exam and receive a CPD certificate on passing. The course includes practical tools and prompts to apply learning in practice.
You can copy and adapt this example PDP entry for your own needs and circumstances.
| PDP Learning or Maintenance need |
| Meet GOC Standard 18 and improve complaints handling skills |
| How does this relate to my field of practice? |
| Ensures compliant, empathetic and effective handling of patient complaints in optical practice. |
| Which development outcome(s) does it link to? |
| Standard 18 / Professional practice |
| What benefit will this have to my work? |
| Improved patient trust, reduced escalation to regulators, clearer records and visible service improvement. |
| How will I meet this learning or maintenance need? |
| Complete this course, apply scripts and templates, and implement a learning log for local changes. |
| When will I complete the activity? |