About this course
Informed consent is the foundation of patient autonomy and ethical practice.
[podcast mini /media/goc-standard-3-intro.mp3]
Think of yourself sitting in the chair for an eye test. You trust that the professional in front of you isn’t just checking your sight—they’re also respecting your right to understand, to choose, and to say yes or no. That trust depends on consent, and consent is never just a signature or a ticked box. It’s a living conversation, one that ensures patients feel seen, heard, and empowered to make decisions about their own care.
In optical practice, valid consent protects not only your patients, but also you as a professional. It reassures you that the choices made in your consulting room stand on firm legal and ethical ground. By mastering this skill, you’ll not only reduce professional risk but also build stronger, more respectful relationships with every patient you meet.
This course will show you how simple, clear communication can transform routine procedures into moments of trust. By the end, you’ll be equipped to support autonomy confidently and lawfully—because every patient deserves care that honours both their vision and their voice.
Consent isn’t just a formality - it’s a conversation. This course helps you build the skills and confidence to explain options clearly, check understanding, and support genuine choice. With practical examples and guidance, you’ll be equipped to obtain valid consent in line with GOC Standard 3.
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 guidance I use every day in practice.
- Excellent scenarios that clarified when to seek consent in complex cases.
- Useful communication tips for patients with sensory and language needs.
- Well structured — helped me improve my contemporaneous records straight away.
- Essential for registrants. Practical, lawful and professionally relevant.
Aim:
The aim of this course is to ensure optical professionals can obtain, assess, and document valid consent in line with UK law and GOC Standard 3.
Course objectives:
- Provide legal, ethical, and professional foundations for valid consent in optical practice.
- Equip learners with communication and capacity-assessment strategies to secure valid consent confidently and lawfully.
Anticipated learning outcomes:
On course completion you will be able to:
- Differentiate types and forms of consent in optical practice and explain their application (Standard 3).
- Apply the three elements of valid consent—capacity, information, and voluntariness—to clinical decision-making (Standard 3).
- Adapt and document consent discussions for children, adults, and patients with diverse needs to ensure lawful, inclusive, and accountable practice (Standard 3).
GOC Framework Mapping:
Standard 3 - Obtaining Valid Consent
Domain: Communication
Learning content:
Why Consent Matters | Types and Forms of Consent | Scenario Page 1: Everyday Consent Situations | The Three Elements of Valid Consent | Scenario Page 2: Assessing Competence and Capacity | Communicating Consent Effectively | Scenario Page 3: Inclusive Consent Challenges | Safeguarding and Consent | Scenario Page 4: Safeguarding and Consent Disputes | Documenting Consent | Professional and Legal Accountability | MCQ | Reading List
View full course description
GOC Standard 3: Obtaining Valid Consent in Optical Practice
Course Description
GOC Standard 3: Obtaining Valid Consent in Optical Practice
This course equips optical professionals and allied staff with the law, guidance and practical skills to obtain, assess and record valid consent in routine and higher‑risk situations. It combines legal foundations with communication techniques and scenario practice.
Why Consent Matters
Covers the ethical and legal importance of consent, patient rights and autonomy, GOC Standard 3 expectations, consequences of inadequate consent and relevant UK statutory and case law.
Types and Forms of Consent
Defines implied, express, informed, valid and specific consent. Explains verbal, written and behavioural forms, proportionality of consent to intervention and everyday optical examples (sight test, dilation, referral).
Scenario Page 1: Everyday Consent Situations
Practical examples on the limits of implied consent in refraction, obtaining specific consent for pupil dilation, brief explanatory phrasing and documenting implied and express consent.
The Three Elements of Valid Consent
Details capacity/competence assessment, providing sufficient comprehensible information and ensuring voluntariness. Explains the interplay of the three elements in clinical decisions.
Scenario Page 2: Assessing Competence and Capacity
Guidance on Gillick competence for under‑16s, Mental Capacity Act principles for adults, assessing fluctuating capacity and making best‑interests decisions with clear documentation.
Communicating Consent Effectively
Practical approaches to adapt communication for culture and language, use professional interpreters, apply neurodiversity‑friendly methods and provide accessible formats for sensory disabilities.
Scenario Page 3: Inclusive Consent Challenges
Examples managing D/deaf patients and interpreter use, supporting low‑vision patients during dispensing, teach‑back, tactile demonstration, visual aids and balancing family involvement with autonomy.
Safeguarding and Consent
When consent may be overridden for serious risk, handling children and adults lacking capacity, escalation and safeguarding procedures, and balancing autonomy with duty of care.
Scenario Page 4: Safeguarding and Consent Disputes
Recognising coerced decisions, managing relatives or carers who pressure patients, applying MCA assessments and best‑interests tests, and recording concerns and escalation pathways.
Documenting Consent
How to record verbal, written and implied consent, document refusals and withdrawals, what to include in contemporaneous records and using notes to demonstrate accountability.
Professional and Legal Accountability
Explains GOC Standard 3 expectations, parallels with other healthcare guidance, and relevant statutes and case law that inform professional responsibilities.
Reading List
Core GOC, GMC and NICE guidance, statutory sources (MCA, Children Act, Human Rights Act), accessibility and safeguarding resources, and ophthalmology‑specific consent guidance and patient leaflets.
You can copy and adapt this example PDP entry for your own needs and circumstances.
| PDP Learning or Maintenance need |
| Understanding and applying valid consent requirements in optical practice |
| How does this relate to my field of practice? |
| Ensures lawful, ethical and professional consent-taking aligned to GOC Standard 3 |
| Which development outcome(s) does it link to? |
| GOC Standard 3 |
| What benefit will this have to my work? |
| Improved patient autonomy, safer decision-making, and better protection against complaints or regulatory risk |
| How will I meet this learning or maintenance need? |
| Complete this course, apply scenario learning in practice and update consent records and processes |
| When will I complete the activity? |