Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest information

Last updated: 10 May 2022

UK Government guidance

Below are links to UK-wide guidance on COVID-19 and guidance from devolved governments and others in each of the nations of the UK.

Public:

Coronavirus: how to stay safe and help prevent the spread

England

Registrants:

Guidance from NHS England and NHS Improvement for primary care practitioners in optical settings
NHS England's National infection prevention and control manual for England
NHS England guidance on deploying the clinical and non-clinical optical workforce to support the NHS clinical delivery plan for COVID-19
NHS England - join the NHS COVID-19 vaccine team

Scotland

Registrants:

Wales

Public:

Registrants:

Northern Ireland

Registrants:

GOC guidance

We are fortunate that in all four countries of the United Kingdom we have a group of well qualified eye care professionals that can be relied on by the general public and fellow healthcare professionals.

Our Standards for Optical Businesses include the following standards to ensure that patient safety is always prioritised:

Standard 1.1 Patients can expect to be safe in your care
Standard 1.2 Patient care is delivered in a suitable environment
Standard 3.1 Your staff are able to exercise their professional judgement

Corresponding standards are also present in the Standards for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians and the Standards for Optical Students.

We realise that some of our own legislation and regulations may prevent care being delivered effectively during the pandemic. To address this, we’ve published statements to remove any unnecessary regulatory barriers and to reassure our registrants and the sector that we will support them when they act in good conscience and exercise professional judgement for the public benefit.

COVID-19 statements consultation

In October 2020, we opened a consultation on the content and impact of our COVID-19 statements and the possibility of aligning them with The College of Optometrists’ red-amber-green classification system. Following the consultation, in May 2021, we decided to align all of our statements to The College’s red-amber-green system. This means our statements now clearly indicate on the front page of the statements the phase of the pandemic in which they apply.

Joint regulatory statements

GOC statements covering internal regulatory processes and provision of CET

GOC statements covering explanation of legislation/expectations

Statement on contact lens aftercare during the COVID-19 emergency
Statement on registrants working in different settings during the COVID-19 emergency (includes statement on redeployment of optometrists and dispensing opticians within pharmacy practice during COVID-19 emergency)
Statement on infection prevention and control during the COVID-19 emergency
Statement on use of technology during the COVID-19 emergency

GOC statements covering legislative easements

Previous GOC statements that no longer apply

Statement on CET during the COVID-19 emergency
Revised statement on the re-opening of optical practices during the COVID-19 emergency (24 June)
Statement on the re-opening of optical practices during the COVID-19 emergency (12 June)
Statement on service of registration notices during COVID-19 emergency
Previous statements are available in our archive

Risk assessment

We have completed an assessment on the risk of contracting COVID-19 associated with working in or visiting our office. The assessment will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) – risk of infection from working in the GOC office

If you are a registrant, please contact your professional association for further advice:

The College of Optometrists: www.college-optometrists.org
Association of Optometrists: www.aop.org.uk
Association of British Dispensing Opticians: www.abdo.org.uk
Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians: www.fodo.com