The Sector Partnership for Optical Knowledge and Education (SPOKE) has published two new Indicative Guidance documents – one for contact lens opticians (CLOs) and one for independent prescribers (IPs).
A cross-sector collaboration funded by the General Optical Council (GOC) and led by the College of Optometrists, SPOKE is managed by a steering group comprising of representatives from the College, ABDO and the Optometry Schools Council (OSC).
The new Indicative Guidance documents are designed to support providers in developing qualifications to meet the GOC’s education and training requirements for therapeutic prescribing contact lens specialisms. They are the first two project outputs from the SPOKE specialist qualifications hub, and were developed with input from a wide range of sector stakeholders. They provide more detail on the content that is expected to be in the new qualifications, with examples of the types of assessment that could be used to address the new GOC outcomes.
Professor Lizzy Ostler, director of education for the College of Optometrists, said: “It is great to see the first two specialist projects come to fruition. The SPOKE team really appreciates the continuing interest and engagement from across the sector to bring the education and training requirements to life.”
Samara Morgan, GOC head of education and CPD development, said: “We are pleased to welcome these new Indicative Guidance documents and are grateful to all stakeholders involved that contributed to their development. We hope providers will find these documents useful when developing their specialist qualifications to meet the new Education and Training requirements.”
Dean Dunning, ABDO deputy head of professional qualifications and education and chief contact lens examiner, commented: “‘ABDO is really pleased to welcome the SPOKE indicative guidance. It is clearly an extensive document, which has involved a large range of stakeholders and gives very clear guidance to students, practices and educational establishments of how outcomes can be evidenced. ABDO examinations look forward to implementing the guidance in the development of our new Contact Lens Certificate Syllabus, which we expect to be in use from September 2024.”
SPOKE is working on its next project for the specialist qualifications, examining the conditions setting and support required to enhance the scope of practice in optical professionals. This was launched at the SPOKE collaborative writing and networking event on 23 January and considers the challenges and opportunities arising from the increased flexibility in supervision, setting and timing for the specialist qualifications.
Find out more information about SPOKE here.