General Optical Council

New CET Rules

Council gave formal approval to the new rules which will underpin the GOC’s enhanced CET scheme from January 2013.

Following Council having formally ‘made’ the Rules they will now be submitted for the Privy Council’s consideration at its 7 November meeting.

Linda Ford, head of education and standards, said: “The new rules are designed to help registrants improve their practice by learning from each other. Registrants will be expected to take part in more interactive forms of CET, with more opportunities to engage with peers and reflect on good practice.”

The Rules make a number of changes to the GOC’s existing CET scheme including:

• Optometrists and contact lens opticians will have to take part in at least one peer discussion session in each CET cycle
• All registrants will have to obtain CET points across each of the competency units relevant to their registration
• Registrants will have to obtain at least 50 per cent of their CET points by interactive methods

The GOC is working with CET providers, including the professional bodies, to ensure that sufficient provision will be available and accessible for all registrants to be able to meet the new requirements. Registrants can expect to see new types of provision from January including interactive distance learning and more web-based activities providing interaction with peers for those who struggle to take time out of practice to attend events.

Council approved the fundamentals of the enhanced CET scheme in April 2012. The full list of new requirements is on the GOC website at http://www.optical.org/en/Education/enhanced-cet-post--2012/how-will-the-changes-affect-me.cfm

Fitness to Practise Rule 15

Council approved a revision to one of its proposed new Fitness to Practise (FTP) Rules. The GOC is in the process of introducing new Rules to help make the FTP process faster and more transparent.

The revision to Rule 15 means that when the new Rules come into force, GOC case examiners, rather than the registrar, will review decisions not to refer registrants to the FTP Committee. The Rules will also make clear that this must be on the basis of a unanimous decision by the two case examiners reviewing the decision.

The GOC is in discussion with the Department of Health as to the timeline for the overarching reform programme to be completed.

Next meeting – Thursday 22 November 2012 at 10.30, 41 Harley Street, London, W1G 8DJ

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Simon Grier
GOC Acting Communications Manager
020 7307 3473
sgrier@optical.org