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Illegal CL web-deal blocked by ABDO
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Online deal website Groupon has been forced to remove one of its offers for contact lenses following swift action from ABDO.
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The deal offered a single pair of zero-powered coloured contact lenses for £4.99 or three pairs for £9.98.
On discovering the deal, ABDO president, Peter Black, contacted the company to warn that the deal was illegal under the Opticians Act 1989, citing regulations on the sale of optical appliances in the UK from the GOC.
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Click here to read more
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Over 650 people attended the ABDO Graduation and Prize Giving Ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral last week.
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Despite the misty, damp weather there was a warm and convivial astmosphere at the event which was much enjoyed by attendees. To view the 2014 ceremony handbook click here.
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The 2015 Graduation and Prize Giving Ceremony will be held on Wednesday 25 November
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Vision Express acquires Conlons Opticians
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Conlons Opticians’ portfolio of 19 practices in the north west of England and Scotland has been acquired by multiple Vision Express for an undisclosed fee.
Ten Conlons practices will continue to trade from current locations under Vision Express branding and retain existing staff. Nine practices will transfer services to the nearest Vision Express locations. The multiple said it was committed to retaining the experience of Conlons staff wherever possible.
Vision Express said the acquisition followed a sustained period of success, with its 2013 trading results showing the third consecutive year of growth. The purchase takes the number of Vision Express practices in the UK and Ireland to 389.
To read more click here.
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New Bradford College building has the ‘wow’ factor
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“Wow!” is how one student has described the new multi-million pound David Hockney Building at Bradford College, which is now home to the college’s Ophthalmic Dispensing section.
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“The building is open plan with natural light and extensive views of Bradford, and provides an innovative and technology rich learning environment,” said Julie Lees, lecturer and curriculum team leader.
Named after the internationally acclaimed artist and alumnus of Bradford College, the David Hockney Building has a large leading edge lecture theatre. Ophthalmic Dispensing is located on the top floor with state of-the-art facilities. “It’s a really exciting time at Bradford College for both students and tutors,” Julie added.
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Click here to visit the Bradford College website
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T.M. Lewin - Corporate Discount
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With a passion for design and focus fixed on quality, T.M. Lewin continue to create fresh, stylish and versatile collections for today’s professional men and women. As an ABDO member, you’re invited to take advantage of special discounts through ABDO membership benefits. To access these offers, simply download your exclusive discount voucher*.
Claim your personal discount voucher
*Terms and conditions apply. See website for details. Offers subject to change without notice. Cannot be redeemed against previous purchases or used in conjunction with any other offer, voucher, discount code or gift card purchases. This ABDO membership benefit is managed on behalf of ABDO by Parliament Hill Ltd.
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2015 membership subcription renewal
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ABDO membership subscription renewal notices are now being dispatched and should be received next week. Please remember that you can make secure payment and print receipts online.
We thank you in advance for ensuring that payment of your annual subscription is promptly received.
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Administrator required for ABDO CET department
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Based in the Colchester office, the position would be for Tuesday to Friday mornings (hours by arrangement). The applicant must be competent with Microsoft Office software and Adobe Acrobat, and must be familiar with working with databases. Please send a CV with covering letter by post to Paula Stevens, ABDO CET, 5 Kingsford Business Centre, Layer Road, Kingsford, Colchester CO2 0HT. For further details telephone 01206 734155.
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Thinking of taking a break…?
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There are many reasons why you might decide to leave the profession temporarily for either a long or short period of time. Before you let your GOC registration lapse, consider carefully the implications of restoring to the GOC register in months or even a few years’ time. There are a number of considerations:
1) If your GOC registration lapses, you might think that you will not have to pay personal indemnity insurance, as you are not in practice. However, claims can be made against you some time after you leave practice, and if you don’t continue your insurance, or have ‘run-off’ cover, you may find that you have to pay any legal fees yourself, for example if you do a couple of days as an unregistered locum.
2) The CET requirement for restoration is increased if in the previous CET cycle you were in shortfall. In other words, if you did not achieve your 36 points in the previous CET cycle, you will have the number of points you didn’t achieve in that cycle added on to your requirement for restoration. Depending on when you decided to take your break, you may be asked by the GOC to accrue up to 36 points before you can be restored to the register. Although ABDO has distance learning interactive restoration modules to help you, this can be an extremely onerous requirement, and can take months to achieve via free CET. As well as the number of points to be gained for restoration, the GOC will also stipulate other CET conditions to be met, such as gaining half as interactive points and covering all the competencies. CLOs in shortfall will also have to gain peer review points.
If you were up-to-date with your CET points in the last cycle, or you weren’t on the GOC register for the whole of the last cycle, a DO will have the minimum restoration requirement stipulated by the GOC, 12 points. If you are a CLO, 6 of the twelve points must be contact lens competencies, and 6 general dispensing.
For more information about the CET requirement for CLOs, read the article by the GOC’s Linda Ford. Once you have achieved the restoration requirement, your CET ‘score’ is set to zero, and from your restoration date you must start gaining points for the current cycle. ABDO provides a huge choice of CET and ways to gain it. Almost all will be free of charge in 2015, even all-day Area events. However, this doesn’t extend to non-members.
3) The GOC charge a restoration fee in addition to the standard registration fee.
So, before you let everything lapse, consider whether it would be less trouble and expense, and safer, to stay on the GOC register and continue your ABDO membership. At least try to ensure that you don’t have a CET shortfall in this period, or you may find that it is extremely difficult to get back into work after your break.
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