Just a quick post to remind all social workers in England that the new system of continuing professional development (CPD) comes into effect as of Monday, 1 December. Any PRTL you have done since the GSCC closed in August could still be included in your new CPD log, as long as you can show the benefits of this learning extend beyond 1 December. For example, if you came along to Community Care’s Children and Families Live conference the other week, you might apply something you learned there to your practice or disseminate it among your colleagues at some point between now and Christmas – therefore it could count.
I’m aware that there is still a lot of anxiety out there about the new CPD requirements. But the message coming from the HCPC is not to worry; it is not looking to remove social workers from the register willy-nilly; it will support people through the process.
The first audit of social workers’ CPD profiles will be in late 2014, so the best thing you can do from 1 December 2012 onward is to make it a habit to log all of your CPD activities and jot down a few notes about how each one will improve or has already improved your practice/outcomes for service users. This is something you should be discussing regularly in supervision anyway, but if your supervision is more case management than reflection, you may have to be more self-disciplined. Make sure you reflect every few months on the type of CPD activities you have been doing and where you might need further improvement. Remember, the HCPC will be looking for evidence of a broad range of activities.
What you should know about the CPD switchover (in bullet points)
Community Care’s guide to the new requirements for CPD, which includes sample profiles that show you what the HCPC might be looking for during the audit process (access requires you to register free for a Community Care account, if you don’t already have one)
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