General Optical Council

The GOC has published independent research that suggests ‘an enhanced version of CET’ could play a role in the future revalidation scheme for registered optometrists and dispensing opticians.
 

Two research reports were commissioned by the GOC, one looking at risk profiling in optics, and one at whether employer appraisal should form part of revalidation. The findings from both were debated at five GOC consultation events around the UK, throughout February.

The research findings propose that the existing CET scheme could be updated so that practitioners are required to have more interaction with assessors and other registrants. Although the research concludes that the overall risk in optics is low, it does identify registrants practising in isolation as an area of relatively high risk. Other conclusions include:  

• Revalidation must be proportionate to the different levels of risk posed by optometrists and dispensing opticians;
• The use of peer review, peer assessment and learning with other clinicians could form part of revalidation;
• Employer appraisal in its current state should not be used in revalidation; and
• The existing CET scheme should be developed to focus training across key core competencies .

The full research reports and a summary of the findings from the Council’s five revalidation consultation events are available at: http://www.optical.org/en/about_us/revalidation/index.cfm

Further revalidation events will be held throughout the year. To register your interest in advance, email sgrier@optical.org  

 

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