We have produced this guidance to help our registrants to understand the concept of consent, and how this should be applied in practice. It is a professional requirement for registrants to ensure that they obtain valid consent. This guidance will support you in understanding consent, capacity to consent, and how to manage situations where consent might be withheld or withdrawn.
This guidance should be read alongside the Standards of Practice for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians which all optometrists and dispensing opticians must apply to their practice and the Standards for Optical Students which all student optometrists and dispensing opticians must apply to their practice. Where we refer to both sets of standards, these will be referred to as “standards” for ease of reading. Where we refer to specific standards, we will put the number of the Standards for Optical Students in brackets after the number for the Standards of Practice, where applicable (e.g., 11(10)).
Standard 3 (annex 1) outlines what is expected of registrants in relation to consent, including when consent should be obtained, what constitutes valid consent, and what legal obligations there are, including the differences in provision of consent for children, young people and vulnerable adults.