Introduce the option to become an Accredited CET Provider

A few years ago at a meeting at the AOP offices a number of us were discussing the various ways that the current CET scheme might be improved upon. There was a background understanding that the GOC thought the current system (two approvers assessing each CET proposed and each getting several quid for their services) cumbersome or expensive. Many of us thought the current scheme may have its detractors but, cost aside, it was a useful filter for some of the more outlandish, commercialised, or leftfield and non-core competency proposals that regularly reach Vantage at the moment. One proposal to which many of us had STRONG antipathy was to introduce the concept of 'accredited CET providers'. Under this proposal a provider, such as Optician Journal, would pay a fee and be registered as a provider. Anything that they then produced would automatically be coded via the administrator (Replay Learning after 2012) and presumabkkly there would be some sanction if any material was produced which was felt to be below the expected standard. This wopuld significantly cut costs and admin time and was particularly popular among some of the more shall we say 'corporate practice' providers.