20 November 2015
The General Optical Council has warned that “thousands” of CET points gained by registrants are still pending, with practitioners reminded to make sure they accept any points they have earned before the 31 December CET deadline.
The regulator reiterated that many practitioners who may have earned the necessary CET points for the current three-year cycle could still fail to meet the requirements if they do not accept the points on the GOC’s website.
Head of education and standards for the GOC, Marcus Dye, said: “Requiring practitioners to accept CET points is vital to ensure that providers have not made errors in uploading them to the system. It also allows practitioners to write reflection statements about their learning and, in some cases, to choose whether their points count towards a speciality or general points target.”
The regulator confirmed that more than 33,000 CET points remain pending in the MyCET, awaiting registrants to accept them, and more than 5,000 practitioners are yet to meet the CET requirements for the 2013–15 cycle.
With no grace period for those who fail to meet the requirements by the deadline, practitioners who do not accept their CET points in time could put their registrant status at risk, facing removal from the registers, as well as stringent restoration requirements.
Mr Dye added: “Registrants must accept all outstanding points before the end of the CET cycle on 31 December 2015 or they will not count, and those who have not accepted their full quota of points are at risk of being removed from the register and being unable to practise.”
Commenting on the announcement, head of education for the AOP, Dr Ian Beasley, said: “It is surprising that the number of practitioners that are yet to meet their CET requirements in this cycle runs into thousands. For most they will simply have to accept the points they have already earned on the GOC website.”
Dr Beasley confirmed that, in addition to the existing CET available online, OT has produced a ‘CET Survival Pack’ covering all core competencies.
He told OT: “Those still anxiously looking for those last few points or needing to meet a specific CET requirement should explore OT’s CET Survival Pack which covers all of the competencies for optometrists, dispensing opticians and contact lens opticians.”
The survival pack will be made available soon.
To accept outstanding CET points, visit the GOC website and login to your CET portfolio by clicking on ‘MyGOC’, and confirm any pending points.
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