What is CPD?

The HPC define CPD as "a range of learning activities through which health professionals maintain and develop throughout their career to ensure that they retain their capacity to practice safely, effectively and legally within their evolving scope of practice". (This definition is taken from the Allied Health Professions project, "Demonstrating competence through CPD", 2002.)

Put simply, CPD is the way health professionals continue to learn and develop throughout their careers so they keep their skills and knowledge up to date and are able to work safely, legally and effectively.

Our standards for continuing professional development

Our standards say that registrants (health professionals registered with us) must:

• maintain a continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of their CPD activities;
• demonstrate that their CPD activities are a mixture of learning activities relevant to current or future practice;
• seek to ensure that their CPD has contributed to the quality of their practice and service delivery;
• seek to ensure that their CPD benefits the service user; and
• present a written profile containing evidence of their CPD upon request.

This means the following:

• You must keep a record of your CPD, in whatever format is most convenient for you.
• You must make sure your CPD is a mixture of different kinds of activities - not just one kind of learning - and that it's relevant to your work. It could be relevant to your current role or to a planned future role.
• You should aim for your CPD to improve the quality of your work. It may not actually improve your work, due to factors beyond your control, but when you choose your CPD activities you should intend for them to improve your work.
• You should aim for your CPD to benefit service users. As above, you may not be able to make sure that this happens, but you should have the intention of benefiting service users. Depending on where and how you work, service users might include patients, clients, your team or students.
• If you're audited, you need to send us a CPD profile to show how you have met our standards. We will send you the CPD profile to fill in.

The standards also mean the following:

• You can also make your own decisions about the kinds of CPD activity that are relevant to your role and your work. For example, CPD activities could include going on secondment, in-service training, mentoring, or reading or reviewing journal articles.
• You may decide that you could meet our standards by taking part in a scheme run by your professional body or your employer. You might add to this with other activities, or you could structure your own CPD activities around your personal development plan. Our standards give you the flexibility to plan your own CPD in a way that suits your work, your learning needs, your preferences, and the time and resources available to you.
• Your development is now formally recognised as an important part of being registered. This gives individual health professionals or organisation's the opportunity to campaign for greater support and recognition of your CPD activities, from your employers and other organisation's.

Example Profiles

Example profiles for Chiropodists & Podiatrists can be found on the website at:
Example CPD Profiles from the HPC website

A flexible approach

Our flexible approach means that your CPD can take account of how you work, whether part-time or full-time, whether in the NHS or in private practice, whether dealing with patients or in management, education or research (or anywhere else). Our standards mean that you can plan your CPD activity to take account of your changing needs. You just need to make sure that your CPD meets our standards.

Examples of types of CPD activity

Work based learning

• Learning by doing
• Case studies
• Reflective practice
• Clinical audit
• Coaching from others
• Discussions with colleagues
• Peer review
• Involvement in wider work of employer
• Work shadowing
• Secondment's
• Job rotation
• Journal club
• In-service training
• Supervising staff or students
• Visiting other departments and reporting back
• Expanding your role
• Analysing significant events
• Filing in self-assessment questionnaires
• Project work or project management
• Evidence of learning activities undertaken as part of your progression on the Knowledge and Skills framework

Professional activity

• Involvement in a professional body
• Membership of a specialist interest group
• Lecturing or teaching
• Mentoring
• Being an examiner
• Being a tutor
• Branch Meetings
• Organising journal clubs or other interest groups
• Maintaining or developing specialist skills
• Being an expert witness
• Membership of other professional bodies or groups
• Giving presentations at conferences
• Organising accredited course
• Supervising research
• Being a national assessor
• Being promoted

Formal / educational

• Courses
• Further education
• Research
• Attending conferences
• Writing articles or papers
• Going to seminars
• Distance learning
• Courses accredited by professional body
• Planning or running a course

Self-directed learning

• Reading journals / articles
• Reviewing books or articles
• Updating knowledge through the internet or TV
• Keeping a file of your progress

Other

• Public service
• Voluntary work
• courses