Actus writes: CET reforms? Let’s get the current system right first

As the end of another CET cycle approaches I’m amazed by the panic among some registrants. Personally I attend CET not for points (I have over 100) but to learn something new and meet my fellow professionals. Locked in consulting rooms all day, or trapped on busy shop floors, optometrists, contact lens opticians and dispensing opticians have little time to compare notes, let alone conduct a real peer review of a real patient episode in a real place of work.

According to MyGOC I’ve well surpassed my CET target of 36 points, and the ‘peer average’ optician who had only 22 points to her name mid-November. The GOC’s newsletter, October 22, reported 8,000 were still to meet their CET requirements 10 weeks before the end of the CET cycle. They risk being suspended from the register and unable to practice. For optometrists and CLOs this means being unable to work so their employer would have every right to dismiss them. DOs could work under the supervision of a registrant who is on the premises and in a position to intervene, but given most DOs supervise others carrying out restricted functions then they too are putting their employment at risk.