About this course
Being candid means openness with patients, stronger trust, and safer optical care.
[podcast mini /media/goc-standard-19-intro.mp3]
Mistakes happen—even in the most careful and professional settings. A prescription error, a delayed referral, or a misplaced record can feel daunting when it comes to light. But in those moments, what matters most isn’t perfection—it’s honesty. Patients don’t expect us to be flawless; they expect us to be transparent, compassionate, and accountable.
That’s the heart of GOC Standard 19: the duty of candour. By responding openly, apologising sincerely, and explaining clearly, we preserve trust, even when things go wrong. And when trust is maintained, patients are more likely to continue care, feel respected, and believe in the integrity of our profession.
This course will give you practical steps—conversation scaffolds, checklists, and documentation templates—that make candour a routine, reliable part of your practice. By embedding these habits, you’ll not only meet professional expectations, you’ll strengthen relationships with patients and colleagues alike. Candour isn’t just compliance—it’s care, dignity, and professionalism in action.
The duty of candour requires honesty when things go wrong. This course helps you understand your legal and professional responsibilities, communicate transparently, and support patients with compassion. With practical guidance, you will be equipped to meet GOC Standard 19 with confidence.
This course is relevant to the whole optical team.
CPD Time: 1 hour (1 CE Credit)
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 usable in the practice.
- Helped our team speak to patients with more confidence and honesty.
- Excellent scenarios and useful templates for documentation.
- Concise guidance on when to escalate and when to apologise.
- Improved our incident reviews and made learning easier to implement.
Aim:
The aim of the learning materials in this course is to ensure registrants understand and can apply the professional duty of candour (GOC Standard 19) to communicate openly, apologise appropriately, and support patient-centred learning and safety.
Course objective:
• to clarify legal and professional duties across UK nations and develop practical skills for candid communication, documentation, escalation and organisational learning in optical settings.
Anticipated learning outcomes:
On course completion you will be able to:
• define the duty of candour and distinguish statutory and professional frameworks.
• recognise and triage events that trigger candour in optical practice.
• conduct clear, empathetic disclosures and offer appropriate apologies.
• record, escalate and report incidents proportionately and accurately.
• apply learning tools and team reflection to reduce recurrence and improve safety.
GOC Framework Mapping:
Standard Standard 19: Duty of Candour
Domain: Professionalism
Learning content:
Aim | Objectives | Introduction: Why Candour Matters | Legal and Professional Framework | What Triggers the Duty of Candour? | Scenario: Clinical Errors | Communicating with Patients | Apologising Appropriately | Scenario: Dispensing Errors | Recording and Escalation | Scenario: Confidentiality Breaches | Learning from Incidents | Scenario: Team Reflection | Reflection and Continuous Improvement | MCQ and Knowledge Check
View full course description
GOC Standard 19: Duty of Candour in Optical Practice
Course Description
GOC Standard 19: Duty of Candour in Optical Practice
This course equips optical professionals with practical steps to meet the duty of candour. It focuses on recognising triggers, disclosing promptly and compassionately, documenting incidents and using learning to prevent recurrence.
Aim
Meet GOC Standard 19 requirements and explain the purpose of candour in optical practice.
Objectives
Understand the duty of candour and recognise triggers requiring open communication.
Introduction: Why Candour Matters
Covers openness, trust and professionalism, harms of concealing errors, and the role of psychological safety and team culture.
Legal and Professional Framework
Explains GOC Standard 19, the statutory duty in England (Regulation 20), differences across UK nations and apology/liability legislation.
What Triggers the Duty of Candour?
Defines harm, potential harm and distress; clinical, dispensing, environmental and data triggers; distinguishing dissatisfaction from harm; decision recording and triage.
Scenario: Clinical Errors
Missed referral and incorrect prescription scenarios with practical disclosure steps and learning actions.
Communicating with Patients
Structure and tone for candour conversations, managing emotion and accessibility needs, conversation scaffolds and useful phrases, and arranging follow-up with named contacts.
Apologising Appropriately
Elements of an effective apology, avoiding defensive language, practical remedies and when to seek indemnity advice.
Scenario: Dispensing Errors
Wrong spectacle lenses and contact lens mix-up scenarios, remedies, no-cost remakes and process controls.
Recording and Escalation
What to document (minimum dataset), when to escalate externally (CQC, ICO, safeguarding), incident registers and informing indemnity providers.
Scenario: Confidentiality Breaches
Email error and reception overheard information scenarios with containment, notification and data protection steps.
Learning from Incidents
Root cause tools (5 Whys, fishbone), action ownership, verification and audits, sharing de-identified learning and linking incidents to CPD and reflection.
Scenario: Team Reflection
Faulty equipment and near miss scenarios with team debriefs, verification and supplier actions.
Reflection and Continuous Improvement
Personal and team reflection prompts, embedding candour into routines, wellbeing support for staff and measuring candour performance.
MCQ and Knowledge Check
Ten multiple-choice questions covering thresholds, apologies and escalation to reinforce learning.
Practice Application
Use checklists, templates and conversation scaffolds provided to apply candour consistently. Complete scenario exercises and reflect on changes to practice procedures.
Course Completion
Participants complete a feedback survey, take the MCQ and receive a CPD certificate on passing. The course encourages reflection and practical implementation.
You can copy and adapt this example PDP entry for your own needs and circumstances.
| PDP Learning or Maintenance need |
| Understanding and applying the duty of candour in optical practice |
| How does this relate to my field of practice? |
| Essential for safe, professional patient care and for meeting GOC standards and regulatory expectations. |
| Which development outcome(s) does it link to? |
| Standard 19 / Professional Duty |
| What benefit will this have to my work? |
| Improved patient trust, clearer incident management, and strengthened team learning and governance. |
| How will I meet this learning or maintenance need? |
| Complete this interactive course and apply templates and checklists in practice. |
| When will I complete the activity? |