Welsh forms for claiming the CET grant have been issued. Claimants must send in their completed forms between 1st July 2008 and 30 September 2008.
The payment is due to -
(a) optometrists, other than a corporate optician; and
(b) ophthalmic medical practitioners, who conduct only sight tests and have no other remunerated medical employment (such as hospital work or general practice), who were on an ophthalmic list of a NHS Board or Local Health Board, or assisted a contractor in the provision of General Ophthalmic Services, for at least six months in the relevant year and have maintained their professional registration.
In other words, to claim you must be an optometrist who has provided GOS for at least six months in 2007 and who carried out CET during 2007. That CET must have been GOC approved but there is no requirement for it to have been paid CET. The CET funding is for your time, not for the cost of the CET. The payment is for having undertaken appropriate continuing education and training.
The grant in Wales is £447. Forms should be sent to the LHB on whose list the claimant sits. Forms can be downloaded below.
The deadline for optometrists in England claiming CET undertaken in the year to 31 December 2007 is 31 August 2008.
The payment in respect of CET undertaken in the year to 31 December 2007 is £447. Eligibility is the same for English claimants as it is for the Welsh (see above)
The claim form for English optometrists can be downloaded below. It should be sent to the PCT on whose list the claimant is registered
The Scottish Executiveand the Northern Ireland Government have not yet issued claim forms for optometrists to claim their CET funding for 2007. AOP members in Scotland and Northern Ireland will be emailed or notified via the pages of OT when the forms are issued.
