Standards & Guidance

Our range of high-quality guidance helps to maintain standards in the planning, practice and commissioning of patient care. Our clinical guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations across all aspect of care or of eye conditions; Concise Practice Points make recommendations for less frequent and targeted clinical situations, succinctly describing the scientific and clinical evidence alongside expert input to enhance clinician and patient decision making. Our Commissioning guidance supports eye units to develop services to meet local population needs.

Commissioning Guidance - Age Related Macular Degeneration Services

This guidance is intended for use by commissioners, providers, social care, and users of the AMD services, including their families and carers. The guidance sets out the principles and recommended minimum standards of care for AMD to decrease variations of care across AMD services in England and Wales. This is based on best practice, the latest available evidence and is in line with published NICE guidance including NG 82 and associated Technology Appraisals

Emergency eye care in hospital eye units and secondary care

This document provides consensus guidance on good practice for urgent and emergency secondary ophthalmic care. Principles for such care delivered in the community are briefly outlined at the end of the document.

Ophthalmic Pathology

This ophthalmic services guidance gives guidance to ophthlamologists on the pathology services available to them, where these services are available and what support ophthalmic pathology services can provide ophthlamologists.

Intravitreal injections consent and checklist recommendations

RCOphth recommendations on informed consent for intravitreal injections and supporting documents, 1) Patient Agreement for Investigation or Treatment 2) Checklist on day of treatment 3) Site-and-Drug-Record-Intravitreal-Injections

Electronic Medical Records standards for UK ophthalmology services

Explores the components integral a good Electronic Medical Record (EMR) to support eye care and is particularly relevant to those organisations making procurement decisions.

Abusive Head Trauma and the Eye Executive Summary

A guideline to help ophthalmologists be familiar with clinical presentation, the differential diagnosis and controversies associated with attributing the presence or absence of retinal findings to abusive head injury in children.

Abusive Head Trauma and the Eye in Infancy

Cataract Surgery in patients living with Dementia

Cataract surgery in patients with dementia is recognised as a complex area of decision-making and peri-operative considerations. In the UK, there are over 850,000 people living with dementia, set to rise to 1.5 million people by 2040 and is now a recognised worldwide public health priority. This Concise Practice Point highlights the importance in providing cataract surgery to dementia patients and aims to assist ophthalmologists in designing systems to appropriately manage and consent these patients.

Cerebral Visual Impairment CPP

Cerebral Visual Impairment is the commonest cause of visual impairment in children in the developed nations. It is a common condition which every ophthalmologist may expect to encounter in a paediatric ophthalmology clinic. This CVI CPP focuses on relevant questions drawn from roundtable discussions with orthoptists, optometrists, ophthalmologists, parents, teachers of the visually impaired and third sector organisations. It represents current understanding of the topic and acknowledges the evolving nature of practice. It will be regularly reviewed in the light of emerging evidence.