7 May 2013

Below is an article from Senior Lecturer, Beverley Wright, about Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and its continued emphasis on podiatrists, chiropodists and Foot Health Practitioners. Bev discusses the challenges attached to CPD and its importance for healthcare professionals.

Almost everyone would agree that in order to enhance their expertise and skills in whatever their speciality or chosen field it is important to consider undertaking some form of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). More importantly, it is an essential element in the pursuance of personal and professional development, particularly across many professional bodies or regulatory associations/organisations (which include the field of podiatry). In fact it does appear that, like some other professions, podiatrists, chiropodists and Foot Health Practitioners (FHPs) have an ambivalent relationship with CPD.

So why is CPD important?
First let us look at CPD, which has the capacity to cover a vast range of life-long learning activities. This can be in a chosen professional field or other area that is likely to contribute to the development of an individual's learning, knowledge and skill for a current or evolving role, or just for personal growth. This hopefully will ensure that from the time a health professional/practitioner first qualifies and practices they should be able to continue practicing safely, effectively and legally.

Primarily, CPD for health professionals/practitioners enables them to improve their abilities for the sake of their patients/clients. It certainly helps to improve their professional skills and practice, by gaining or extending their range of knowledge and understanding.

Many professional associations and organisations now require proof of CPD to be eligible for the renewal of annual membership applications. This is not an uncommon practice for doctors, nurses and other medical personnel who are required to undertake a minimum of CPD hours in order to keep their licence to practice. If the CPD requirements are not met, there are harsh penalties brought against professionals who choose to ignore these standards and regulations, as set by their respective professional or regulatory body associations/organisations. This is especially pertinent when life and death issues to patients/clients may be at stake. Of course this does not affect every individual working in the field of podiatry as a podiatrist, chiropodist, or a FHP working for the NHS or in private practice, but it could potentially affect their patient/client care.

The Health Care Professions Council (HCPC), the regulators of podiatrists and chiropodists, expect a registrant of the HCPC to undertake CPD. These are set out in the HCPC guidelines as a proviso of continuing on their professional register.

There are many instances where some individuals may choose to ignore providing proof of their CPD attendance, in the hopes that it will be overlooked when renewing their membership. Indeed, many professional body associations/organisations have in the past been more lenient about CPD involvement and may have even turned a blind eye, for fear of losing members. This is certainly not the case now when professional bodies and regulators expect their members to be following their standards and guidelines. For example, even for the Institute of Chiropodists and Podiatrists (IOCP) Associate members (non HCPC registered members) amongst the IOCP membership, there is still an expectation of CPD to keep health professionals/practitioners' skills up to date.

CPD has become one of the many reasons for relinquishing membership to many associations or organisations, because some individuals think they will no longer have to do CPD. Many individuals are happy with the qualifications they have and do not feel that CPD will benefit the effectiveness of their practices,or the way in which they work with their existing clientele. Some individuals even consider CPD to be of little value or, worse, irrelevant.

The financial consequences of taking extra courses continue to add to the issues surrounding CPD; from the loss of earnings to the time taken from work to attend courses. This may be particularly relevant to many individuals who are self-employed and/or in private practice during the current economic climate. For others it might be the distance and the time to travel to attend CPD courses that can contribute to the rising costs and other issues overall in undertaking CPD.

The list of problems with having to do CPD may be long and getting longer, but this is disregarded by individuals who have trained and practised abroad where the attitude to CPD is completely different. Health professionals from other countries view the problems we have in doing CPD as almost unique to the UK. In many countries health practitioners/professionals are passionate about CPD and will even travel abroad around the world to attend CPD courses to improve their knowledge, skills and practice. This is evident in many countries where education is viewed as a luxury afforded only by the rich, or by others not so well off, and as being an important factor in life in order to get a job, or a better status in life and/or society.

I have always been interested in learning and passionate about education, because I can see the value and its many benefits, especially by filling in the gaps in my own knowledge and understanding. So, in order to keep up the standards of my work and practice, I try to attend as many CPD courses as I can, even if the subjects are sometimes obscure and not always related to work. It is also nice to do a course in something completely different, interesting and enjoyable. Surprisingly, in whatever guise the course may be packaged it can be considered CPD, because there is a level of learning involved.

There are hundreds of CPD courses available - some that offer good quality, and others that don't. Fortunately, there are many organisations that offer good CPD courses to the general population of health professionals/practitioners, but there are often those that are biased or closed to even those in their own discipline. Some courses can be hugely expensive and beneficial, others very limited in value, which can often make it difficult to make comparisons to decide on the right course to do.

Health professionals/practitioners who have attended a great deal of CPD courses should be able to use the appropriate treatment for each case they deal with. In addition they may only need to see the majority of their patients/clients for a one-off treatment, because their acquired knowledge has given them the opportunity for minimum action that produces the greatest effect. This can be of benefit when time is money and the satisfaction and well­being of a patient/client is paramount.

CPD can be extremely useful for networking, and as many health professionals/practitioners tend to work in isolation it can be quite refreshing to socialise with like-minded people. CPD can have the advantage of giving individuals a personal challenge and a sense of professional pride for being involved with new learning. It can add weight to their own personal and professional development and confirm the quality of their own professional work practices to their peers and clientele. This may be especially useful in light of being a very effective means of comparing performance with the standards of their peers, who are also their competitors for clientele. Potential clients will also be seeking competent health professionals/practitioners that have up to date skills and knowledge in their professional work practice.

So if you are reading the 'Podiatry Review', you are doing CPD. If you attend Branch meetings, it is CPD! If you do not attend Branch meetings (go on - be brave and attend one, it might have a presentation), that is also CPD! There are lots of different ways to obtain CPD, and in the process you could have fun with some interesting people. So, yes there is a point to emphasising CPD, but you have to do it to get it!

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