HCPC renewal: 10 tips for getting your CPD profile ready

The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration renewal period for social workers runs from Thursday 1 September 2016 to Wednesday 30 November 2016. The HCPC will be writing to all registered social workers at the beginning of September with information on how to renew.

At the beginning of this period a random sample of 2.5 per cent of the profession will also be selected for an audit of their continuing professional development (CPD) profile. Those selected for audit will receive a separate letter after the renewal notices are sent out.

If you’re selected to participate in the CPD audit, there is a range of guidance and information available on the HCPC website, including sample profiles, activity types and video guides.

Alternatively, follow our 10 top tips for completing your profile:

1. Include a dated list of your professional development activities within the audit period – the last two years of registration. If you have any gaps of three months or more, they will need to be explained.
2. Don’t just describe your day-to-day work. Choose a range of different activities you have undertaken over the past two years (between four and six in total) and describe what you learned from each.
3. Provide good evidence for each of the activities. Reflective logs, case studies, presentations, certificates and feedback from your service users would all be relevant.
4. Remember, it is about quality not quantity – choose evidence which shows how you think you have met the standards.
5. Ensure confidentiality when including your evidence – make sure that none of your evidence or your statement includes references to named individuals.
6. Make sure that the evidence you send will back up the statements made in your profile. It should show that you have undertaken the activities you have referred to, and should also show how they have improved the quality of your work and benefited service users.
7. Be concise, but provide sufficient detail on how your learning activities had an impact on your service, and be clear about how each standard has been met.
8. Keep a personal log of your continuing professional development, so that if you move jobs or your circumstances change you will still have access to it.
9. Don’t forget that the summary of your practice history should help to show the assessors how your development activities are linked to your work.
10. The council’s approach to assessing professional development focuses on the outcome of your activities – how they have benefited you and your service users, not how many hours or points you have. It’s up to you to think about what you need to do to keep up to date in your area of practice.

For more information and advice for completing your CPD profile, visit
www.hcpc-uk.org/registrants/cpd.