At one time our CDS MasterClass (Billing for Dummies) was our most popular course and which I would be guaranteed to deliver a couple of times per month. Times have now obviously changed, and this course has been replaced by ‘Peer Review - Are you Competent?’ as our most frequently delivered session.

Yesterday was therefore something of a break from the routine and it was actually quite fun to be tested on knowledge I had not used for some time. What is most striking however, when systematically going through the CDS claim structure, is how very many fee-earning opportunities have been taken from the profession since the inception of Contracting. With further restrictions and new Standard Fees in April, on the back of the re-introduction of Means Testing, it does make one almost astonished that firms continue to survive.

Anyhow, I now prepare to struggle with the London traffic and spend another day with a firm having to (re-)learn the skills necessary to be Competent Plus.