At the CIEH's 2002 annual general meeting, chartered status received a unanimous vote of acceptance from members. It was hailed as "a major step forward" and as "a milestone in the development and recognition of the profession". It was hoped that many members would take advantage of the facility and become chartered environmental health professionals (CEHPs).

At the time, I remember some colleagues felt chartered status would make little difference to the profession. Others viewed it as an opportunity to advance the cause of the sanitary inspector to well deserved professional acceptance alongside other health practitioners. Many also believed the title of CEHP would allow the "independent EHP" to emerge, able to effortlessly work outside local government recognised by the public, employers and other professional bodies for their skills as CEHPs. After all, a surveyor or doctor never has to explain exactly what they do.

So where are all the CEHPs and how do you find one? It is estimated that over 40 per cent of EHPs work outside local authorities. The telephone directory seemed a reasonable place to start as doctors, dentists, surveyors and accountants can all be found under their professional listings. However, both manual and internet searches of Thomson Local and Yellow Pages did not yield the details of a single CEHP. Bemused, I contacted the listings section which explained that there is no category for CEHP, EHO, EHP or environmental health due to lack of demand. If an independent CEHP wants to advertise their services, then a generic category of "health" or "environmental consultant" is used.

Widening the search to "health professionals" produced listings for about 100 acoustic engineers, health and safety specialists and noise vibration consultants. After 30 random calls to these organisations, I still had not tracked down an EHP. Not one of the companies that I spoke to retained an EHP. Instead, they employed experienced technical consultants such as health & safety specialists who had worked for large companies and environmental scientists and acousticians.

Only one of the companies that I spoke to was able to deal with a query about noise nuisance. I was told that they could supply limited advice on how to take private action and suggested that I contact a solicitor. When pressed on whether they employed any EHPs who might be able to visit and assess a potential noise nuisance, I was surprised to be told: "Speak to your local council - you can't be an EHO if you don't work for a local authority, when they leave councils they can't be called EHOs anymore."

Patently obvious that I had searched in the wrong place, I tried the CIEH website. I reasoned that a list of independent CEHPs would be readily available to members of the public or even PCT managers looking to work in partnership to deliver the public health agenda. No such list was forthcoming, although limited details of consultants were listed. So, finally I called the CIEH customer information number and asked for a list of CEHPs. I was told that a book of contacts previously available, no longer existed and perhaps I should look in my local library or use the internet and "ask Jeeves".