Sir, I am in full agreement with S. Wilson regarding the BDJ's CPD scheme.1 In the nine years of its operation I believe that his is one of only three published letters that have been critical of the service. The first,2An easy ride, was published shortly after its launch and the second,3Accumulating CPD hours, written by myself, was submitted in response to the last editorial on CPD in 2007,4CPD revisited. My letter generated only one published reply,5 which offered some valuable opinions but did not address the central theme of quality assurance.

I would like to make two further contributions that should help to resolve the apparent dilemma facing the journal and its partners. First, does the existing scheme meet the requirements for verifiable CPD? I can obtain a certificate for logging in and selecting any answer. All this verifies is my computer skills. There is no attempt to verify that the learning intervention (reading and comprehending a paper) has occurred.

Second, and most importantly, lifelong learning was not introduced primarily for the benefit of dental professionals but rather for that of the public so that patients can have confidence in those charged with caring for them.6 Perhaps you should address your question to the letters pages of the national newspapers, media organisations and patient representative groups. I am sure that you will receive an unambiguous response.

The real dilemma faced by the journal and its partners is how the existing CPD scheme can be justified to patients. Accusations of tokenism and rewarding superficial participation in education will be difficult to defend. We have seen public confidence in our bankers and politicians gravely undermined. Most recently school examination boards have been accused of competing to provide the easiest to pass GCSEs: the parallel with the journal's CPD scheme (and others) should be obvious.

The question regarding a scoring system is one of much greater significance than might at first be apparent, as Mr Wilson has identified so ably.