As part of The National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018, there is an annual requirement for all Optometrists and OMPs working under GOS in Scotland to satisfactorily complete a small element of mandatory training, provided by NES.
The 2023 Mandatory Training e-learning resource "Clinical Governance: A Route to Improvement", aims to encourage a quality improvement mindset when approaching clinical governance: identifying areas of potential improvement in how we deliver care, as evidence of performing practice-based clinical governance.
More Information and Getting Help
All Optometrists and OMPs included on a NHS Board's Ophthalmic List to provide GOS must satisfactorily complete each calendar year's mandatory training, unless they were added to a NHS Board's Ophthalmic List after 31 October in the relevant calendar year and:
• at the point of that addition, they are not on another NHS Board's Ophthalmic List; and
• they have not been on the NHS Board's Ophthalmic List at any point in the 1 January to 31 October inclusive period of that calendar year.
Optometrists of OMPs who are not required to complete the mandatory training are however still encouraged to do so.
The deadline for completion of this year's mandatory training is 31 October 2023 to ensure adequate time is available for NES to process and confirm satisfactory completion by 31 December 2023.
Any practitioners who think they will struggle to complete the training before this should contact NES as soon as possible, ideally by email. The NES team is ready to help with most queries you may have, however, would highlight that for any technical queries please use the Turas Helpdesk.
Please also refer to the Mandatory Training 2023 - Frequently Asked Questions document which may answer any queries you have.