Here to help: CPD audit – a short guide

Alan Wainwright, the IBMS Executive Head of Education, revisits the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) CPD audit.

The HCPC states that “Continuing professional development is the way in which registrants continue to learn and develop throughout their careers so they keep their skills and knowledge up to date and are able to practise safely and effectively. Our standards of continuing professional development set out what we expect and require of registrants’ continuing professional development.”

HCPC standards for CPD and what they require you to do:

1. Maintain a continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of your CPD.
2. Demonstrate that your CPD activities are a mixture of learning activities relevant to current or future practice.
3. Ensure your CPD has contributed to the quality of your practice and service delivery.
4. Ensure that your CPD benefits the service user.
5. Present a written profile, upon request from the HCPC (which must be your own work and supported by evidence), explaining how you have met the HCPC standards for CPD.

The following information has been extracted from the HCPC website. Full details of the CPD audit and how to respond can be found at hcpc-uk.org.

HCPC audit of CPD

Biomedical scientists are currently in the phase of renewing their HCPC registration. During each renewal the HCPC randomly selects 2.5% of each profession and asks them to submit their CPD profile.

The audit selection is computer-generated at random. If you are selected,the HCPC will notify you by email within 10 working days of the renewal window opening. As CPD is an ongoing requirement while you are registered, it is possible that you could be picked for audit on multiple occasions. However, the HCPC only audits registrants who have been registered for two years or more. Recent graduates will not be selected for audit when they renew for the first time.

If you are selected you need to:

• Submit a CPD profile by the deadline, which shows the activities you have undertaken since your last renewal.
• Provide supporting evidence that shows your CPD meets the standards, including a dated list to help the assessors identify any gaps of more than three consecutive months that have not been accounted for.

CPD Profile

Practice history summary (up to 500 words)

• To check your CPD is relevant to your current/future practice (CPD Standard 2).
• Your summary should describe your role and the type of work you do and should include your main responsibilities, identify the specialist areas you work
• in and the people you communicate and work with most.

Your statement (up to 1500 words)

In this section, you are required to show how you meet HCPC standards of CPD. Drawing on the CPD activities you have carried out, you will need to show how you meet Standards 3 and 4, describing how your CPD activities improve the quality of your work and benefit service users.

One way to complete your statement is to choose four to six CPD activities you have carried out.

For each one describe:

• what the activity was
• what you learnt
• how you think the activity improved the quality of your work and benefited your service users.

Choose activities that you think benefited you the most and for which you have some supporting evidence. When describing how your CPD has benefited the quality of your work, or benefited service users, you may need to describe how you believe that this has happened. Other ways might include using your professional development plan or similar (if you have one) or structuring your statement around each of the CPD standards.

List of activities

You are required to provide a dated list of CPD activities you have carried out since you last renewed your registration. Decide which activities show how you meet the HCPC standards for CPD.

 Supporting evidence

You are asked to also provide evidence that shows that the CPD activities you have written about in the profile have taken place. You are also required to send the HCPC a summary of all your activities, but this summary should be only a sheet or two, with a very brief list of activities and dates.

Evidence

The HCPC identify three categories of evidence that are required:

1. Material you may have produced, for example: information leaflets and case studies.
2. Materials showing you have reflected on and evaluated your learning and work,  such as: evaluation of courses or conferences you have attended.
3. Materials from others, including: testimonials or course certificates.

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HCPC Dos and Don’ts

Do

• Keep it simple. Use simple language to describe the CPD you have done, what you have learnt from it, and how it has benefited you and your service user(s).
• Choose four to six CPD activities over the last two years. Tell us what you did, what you learnt, and the benefits to you and your service user(s).
• Ensure the activities you discuss are a mixture of learning types and were undertaken in the last two years.
• Remember to include a dated list, in chronological order, of all the CPD activities you have completed in the last two years. This will demonstrate that you have met CPD Standard 1. Ensure that you explain any gaps of three consecutive months or more.
• Double check your profile before submitting it, ensuring all relevant documentation is included.

Don’t

• Try to describe in detail every activity you have undertaken over the last two years.
• Send evidence of all your CPD activities.
• Include identifiable information. This must be anonymised before including it with your CPD profile.
• Include CVs.

Full details of the CPD audit and how to respond can be found on the HCPC website hcpc-uk.org

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