The GOC’s Record review explained

Every day, optometrist and dispensing optician registrants upload numerous records to their MyGOC, MyCPD accounts, including points, reflections and personal development plans (PDPs).

Our Record review process ensures that registrants are keeping good-quality records of the CPD they complete, undertaking CPD which aligns with their professional development needs, and are documenting meaningful reflections. The review is intended to be a positive process where, if necessary, our reviewers can work with registrants to improve their CPD records.

Record review was introduced for quality assurance purposes, and up to 10% of registrants will have their records reviewed each CPD cycle.

What happens during record review?

If a registrant is selected for review, they will be notified by email in either April, June or October – these are the three months in which record review takes place annually.

CPD reviewers are fellow optometrists and dispensing opticians who have been appointed and trained by the GOC. They will be given a sample of a registrant’s records to review.

The registrant should, generally, not need to supply any additional information to GOC reviewers. However, there may be some circumstances in which this will be requested – for example, if data is missing or information logged in the MyCPD is unclear. If a reviewer asks a registrant for more information, we advise them to engage promptly.

When a registrant’s records are being reviewed, the practitioner cannot modify them. However, they can modify any of their records that aren’t under review, as well as upload other CPD activities to their MyCPD account.

The review is intended to be a positive process where, if necessary, our reviewers can work with registrants to improve their CPD records

Review outcomes

Once the review has been completed, usually within six weeks of receiving the initial notification email, registrants will be notified of the outcome, along with a short report written by the reviewer.

Reviewers will be able to identify where registrants have excelled, while also suggesting areas for improvement. If needed, reviewers can work with registrants directly to enhance their records, and help guide them on their PDP, learning outcomes and reflections.

If a registrant is undertaking CPD relevant to their professional needs and keeping good quality records, officially they will receive a ‘pass.’

If improvement is required on a registrant’s record keeping or their learning is not believed to be appropriate or on track, they will receive a ‘requires improvement’ outcome. Alongside this, registrants will be given recommendations and specific actions which we expect them to complete.

In these circumstances, registrants may be subject to a targeted review in the following 12 months, where the reviewer will look at a selection of their CPD records and consider if the registrant has acted in accordance with the recommendations reported in the previous review.

A ‘serious concerns’ outcome means there are significant issues with a registrant’s record-keeping and/or there is evidence that their learning does not align with their needs or with the GOC’s Standards of practice.

However, registrants will still be given an opportunity to make improvements to their record-keeping or reassess the CPD activities being undertaken – we will support registrants in doing this.

Overall, registrants have been good at uploading records, with just over seven in 10 registrants passing, and only 3% of those reviewed receiving a serious concerns outcome to date

Key learnings

Overall, registrants have been good at uploading records, with just over seven in 10 registrants passing, and only 3% of those reviewed receiving a serious concerns outcome to date. It’s been positive to see the wide variety of CPD undertaken.

When it comes to the PDP, there has been some variation in the way learning outcomes have been written across registrants, though we appreciate this may be a new skill for registrants.

We would recommend using the SMART method when registrants are writing their PDPs – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relatable and Time-bound – to ensure that their learning outcomes are focused.

The PDP should also be considered a live document that can be revisited throughout the cycle if a registrant identifies a new learning outcome or their career path changes.

More information on putting together a PDP can be found on our website.

Reflective accounts on CPD have generally been completed to a high standard. However, to reinforce learning, registrants’ reflections should not just state what happened in the CPD activity, but also how the CPD will impact their professional practice.

When uploading evidence of CPD records, we encourage registrants to try to ensure they are in commonly used digital formats such as a JPEG or a PDF, as opposed to file formats that may not open on reviewer’s devices.

Finally, we ask registrants to keep an eye out during the key Record review months for an email notifying registrants about a review – we ask everyone to check that their email address on their MyGOC is up to date as it is the email we will use to notify them. We encourage registrants to also check emails from the GOC aren't marked as spam and therefore are not arriving in their inbox folder.

To registrants who are selected for review, we hope that they find it a positive process that supports them in improving their CPD record keeping.

To find out more about the process, read CPD Record review: a guide for registrants.

About the author

Kathy Morrison is the General Optical Council’s chair of CPD approvers. She oversees the record review process, with ‘serious concerns’ outcomes escalated to her for review.