post qualifying framework - rcot cpd.pdf · cpd and career planning booklet college of occupational...

Post Qualifying FrameworkCPD and career planning bookletCollege of Occupational Therapists

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www.cot.org.uk

The College of Occupational Therapists is a wholly owned

subsidiary of the British Association of Occupational Therapists

(BAOT) and operates as a registered charity. It represents the

profession nationally and internationally, and contributes widely

to policy consultations throughout the UK. The College sets the

professional and educational standards for occupational therapy,

providing leadership, guidance and information relating to research

and development, education, practice

and lifelong learning. In addition,

11 accredited specialist sections support

expert clinical practice.

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Post Qualifying FrameworkCPD and career planning booklet

College of Occupational Therapists

First published in 2006by the College of Occupational Therapists106–114 Borough High StreetLondon SE1 1LBwww.cot.org.uk

Reprinted with updated cover in 2010

Copyright © College of Occupational Therapists, 2006

Author: College of Occupational Therapists

All rights reserved, including translation. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, by any form or any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the College of Occupational Therapists, unless otherwise agreed or indicated. Copying is not permitted except for personal and internal use, to the extent permitted by national copyright law, or under the terms of a licence issued by the relevant national reproduction rights organisation (such as the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK). Requests for permission for other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, or for resale, should be addressed to the Publications Officer at the above address.

Other enquiries about this document should be addressed to the Education department at the above address.

AcknowledgementsThe College acknowledges the work of Angela Hook and would like to thank all those who contributed their time and expertise in its development.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy, the College of Occupational Therapists shall not be liable for any loss or damage either directly or indirectly resulting from the use of this publication.

ISBN (for whole pack) 978-1-905944-01-9

Typeset by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, CheshireDigitally printed on demand in Great Britain by the Lavenham Press, Suffolk

ContentsPage

1 Introduction 1

2 What is CPD? 12.1 HPC standards for CPD activity 12.2 The essential CPD principles 22.3 Key features of CPD 2

3 CPD activities 23.1 Based on learning outcomes 33.2 Examples of CPD activities 3

4 Planning your CPD 44.1 An example of a CPD model in practice 44.2 Creative solutions 54.3 Ideas from practice 5

5 Integrating CPD into services 7

6 CPD tools 9

References 10

1 Introduction

From 2007, as an occupational therapist, you will be required to keep an up-to-date record of your continuing professional development (CPD) activity inorder to provide evidence to meet the requirements for registration with theHealth Professions Council (HPC). Occupational therapists will be involved intheir first audit in October 2009.

2 What is CPD?

CPD has been explained as follows.• ‘a range of learning activities through which health professionals maintain

and develop throughout their career to ensure that they retain theircapacity (and capability) to practise safely, effectively and legally withintheir evolving scope of practice’

(AHP 2003)• ‘Post qualifying education broadens or enhances skills, CPD updates

existing ones’(Department of Health 2001, p38)

Currently, to renew registration, you sign to confirm that you meet the agreedHPC standards, but from 2009, the re-registration process will take the form ofan audit of a selected percentage of the register. Those selected will be asked tocomplete a profile with attached evidence which demonstrates how their CPDactivity over the previous two years enables them to meet the HPC standards.Guidance for profile completion and sample profiles can be found on theCollege of Occupational Therapists (COT) website (www.cot.co.uk).

HPC can refuse to renew someone’s registration if they have not met the CPDstandards (although there is a right to appeal). The HPC website (www.hpc-uk.org) supplies further information on the process.

Neither HPC nor COT has any legal power to require employers to dedicateparticular amounts of time or resources to CPD. However, COT recommendsthat half a day a month is given to all occupational therapy staff for CPDactivity (COT 2001, COT 2002).

2.1 HPC standards for CPD activityAll occupational therapists have a responsibility to ensure that they can meetthe standards below. Those occupational therapists selected at re-registrationwill be audited against them.

A registrant must:1. Maintain a continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of their CPD activities;2. Demonstrate that their CPD activities are a mixture of learning activities

relevant to current or future practice;3. Seek to ensure that their CPD has contributed to the quality of their

practice and service delivery;

College of Occupational Therapists 1

4. Seek to ensure that their CPD benefits the service user; and5. Present a written profile containing evidence of their CPD upon request.

(Health Professions Council 2006)

The College, working closely with HPC, has produced exemplar CPD profiles forpractitioner, manager and educator; these are available to use as guidance tomembers and can be found on the member website (www.cot.co.uk). Profiles forresearchers will be available in due course.

2.2 The essential CPD principlesThe principles underpinning CPD need to be as simple as possible whileproviding a good foundation on which to build an appropriate profile uniqueto the individual. The following statements are offered as overarchingprinciples for guidance to you when considering CPD activity. You could usethese as measures against which to regularly assess your achievement, eitheras self-assessment or through peer assessment or with the help of a mentor.The principles below are for guidance only:• Individuals are responsible for managing and undertaking CPD activity.• The learning process is continual and comprises a systematic cycle of

analysis, action and review.• CPD includes a balance of learning activities.• Evidence of CPD activity and process is documented. These documentations

will be available to assist with personal development planning (PDP),appraisal and revalidation.

• Any development plan should include the individual’s current learningneeds, takes into account previous development, fits into his/her overall lifeand career plan and, where relevant, meets current organisational needs.

• Expected learning outcomes are clear, and serve organisational needs,service-user needs and individual goals.

• The process is planned and based on identifiable outcomes of learningthat the individual achieves.

• Regular investment of time in learning is seen as an essential part ofprofessional life, not an optional extra.

2.3 Key features of CPD• Ownership of CPD by the individual.• Emphasis on learning from a wide range of activities.• Integrationof learningandwork– the conceptofworkasa learningexperience.• Emphasis on ‘outcomes’ – answering the questions ‘what did you learn?’

and ‘how do you plan to apply this learning?’ – rather than ‘what learningevent did you experience?’.

• CPD should not be seen as an additional task to normal duties.

3 CPD activities

CPD has sometimes been thought of as being exclusively formal education, forexample attending a course. The standards and the process that are discussedhere take account of the fact that a course may not be the most useful kind of

What is CPD?

2 Post Qualifying Framework

CPD for all occupational therapists, and indeed that some occupationaltherapists may not have access to courses. Formal or educational CPD is justone of the types of activity that may make up CPD activities.

Formal learning Learning typically provided by an education or traininginstitution, structured (in terms of learning outcomes,learning time or learning support) and leading to some formof formal recognition (for example certification or award).Formal learning is intentional from the learner’s perspective

Informal learning Learning resulting from daily life activities related to work,family or leisure. It is not structured (in terms of learningoutcomes, learning time or learning support) and typicallydoes not lead to certification. Informal learning may beintentional but in most cases it is non-intentional(Commission of the European Communities 2001)

3.1 Based on learning outcomesThe CPD process should be outcomes based, and not based upon a certainnumber of hours or points or days. You will need to make a professionaldecision about the kinds of activities that would be most appropriate for youto undertake, in order to ensure that you meet the standards.

Occupational therapists will have varying development needs, and your CPDactivities may be very different from those of your colleagues. The way in whichyou take part in CPD and the range of your CPD activities will be dependent on:• experiences and opportunities for CPD in your work;• your personal learning needs;• your preferred learning style;• the relevance of the CPD activities to your practice;• the context of your practice.

It is important to undertake a range of appropriate CPD activities, which willfulfil your identified learning outcomes. You may also wish to refer to otherframeworks as appropriate, such as the Knowledge and Skills Framework(KSF), in order to plan your unique programme of activity.

3.2 Examples of CPD activitiesCPD activities could include:• work-based learning, for example reflective practice, clinical audit,

significant event analysis, user feedback, membership of a committee,journal club;

• professional activity, for example membership of a specialist interestgroup, mentoring, teaching, expert witness, presentation at conferences;

• formal/educational activities, for example courses or single module,undertaking research, distance learning, planning or running a course;

• self-directed learning, for example reading journals/articles, reviewingbooks/articles, updating knowledge via www/TV/press;

• other activities, for example public service.

CPD activities


This list is not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive. A fuller list can beviewed on the HPC website (www.hpc-uk.org).

4 Planning your CPD

When considering learning and available development opportunities it isimportant to bear in mind that all kinds of learning activities can contribute toyour CPD. The focus may vary at different stages in your career path and theremay be periods when you devote considerable commitment to yourdevelopment and other times when you are undertaking CPD just to keep upto date in your current role.

Any learning activity that is undertaken to address a gap in your knowledgeand/or skills should result in development of your practice and the benefits tothe service user (for example patient/client, student, staff member) should beidentified and documented. Reflective tools can be useful for this process,samples of which can be found on the COT member website (www.cot.org.uk).

4.1 An example of a CPD model in practiceThe framework shown in Figure 1 offers suggested activities set against anannual time line and can be used by individuals or services to develop CPDstrategies. It is not intended to be prescriptive in any way and serves as anexample only.

CPD activities


Reflection

Engage in informal learning

Consider impact of learning on practice

Clinical supervision�Mentorship

CPD group/Journal club

Peer support

Engage informal learning

AppraisalPDP

Annually

Monthly

Weekly

Daily

Figure 1 Example of a CPD model in practice

The arrow on the left represents frequency/time line of activity, the trianglerepresents the activities that may be engaged in and all may then bedocumented and used as evidence collected in a portfolio and then used toinform a written CPD profile.

4.2 Creative solutionsIn addition to the examples given in practice (below) you may also consideractivities offered by COT, for example:• events as advertised on the website (www.cot.co.uk) and in BJOT/OTN;• involvement with the Specialist Sections;• involvement in regional/local groups;• COT annual conference, which now produces a reflective pro forma

for sessions attended to highlight learning and how it is put intopractice;

• CPD tools that can be downloaded from the COT website (www.cot.co.uk);• Accreditation of Practice Placement Educators’ Scheme (APPLE);• utilising the hOT Topics available from the COT library. The hOT Topics are

overviews of useful articles, books, reports, government documents andwebsites pertaining to a particular topic of interest to OTs and of currentmanagerial and clinical interest.

4.3 Ideas from practiceThe following vignettes are offered by members each describing an activitythey have engaged in that was useful.• A journal club is one way to do it as described by Sherratt in the July 2005

edition of BJOT (Sherratt 2005). We hold one every two weeks foroccupational therapists and Technical Instructors (TIs), and run it twodifferent ways. One session involves a volunteer choosing an article foreveryone to read before discussion in the meeting. For the alternatesession, we choose a topic and everyone has to bring an article (or part ofa book) around the topic for discussion. (consider COT hOT Topic: JournalClubs Nov 01 – www.cot.co.uk/members/librarycot)

• We are hoping to do some research in a small group of four occupationaltherapists. It seems occupational therapists only do research on courses,and it would be good to share the experience of doing research in agroup. This can be a learning experience for those who have never doneresearch before, or want to have another go without being assessed on it.The key to begin with is to get the time from the Trust to do it – aspsychologists always seem to have. Sadly, we will have to put informationtogether to explain how our research will be beneficial and so merit timeto do it. (consider hOT Topics: Getting Started in Research Aug 05, WritingResearch Proposals May 06 – www.cot.co.uk/members/librarycot)

• In our Trust, we have one day a year where staff are encouraged to arrangeto shadow someone in another part of the organisation. Not that wecan’t shadow any other time, but they publicise this in such a way that itreminds you that we can do it. They also feedback on the shadowingexperiences in the staff magazine, usually with some accompanyingphotos.

Planning your CPD


• To encourage reflection my primary care trust (PCT) has introduced aprinted section on the back of each certificate of attendance withreflection questions or prompts. This hopefully encourages everyone toreflect on what they have just learned and how they are going to use theknowledge. We are now going to introduce this to all our in-servicetraining and so no one has an excuse not to reflect.

• One of the modules I have done for my Masters degree was called ‘Work-based learning’ and the supervising lecturers worked very much inpartnership with your workplace. For me, the benefits were that I gotaccredited for something I was going to have to learn anyway, but in away that made me get evidence of my development. My line managergained another method of supporting staff to develop a skill and theuniversity staff got an insight into what was important in my department.You picked a project that was important to you and your area of work,with most of us picking things from our personal development plans orour departmental work plans. So some managers also managed to get avolunteer to take on writing a strategy or policy, some got someone to tryout a new initiative or way of working, and my manager got someonewho further developed their facilitation skills. And that has also openedup a lot of other opportunities. For example, I have been running focusgroups to evaluate a new staff development programme, focus groups forpatients and carers, and helping facilitate team away days for other areas.And in the process I have gained an awful lot of additional evidence of mydevelopment.

• We’ve done quite a lot of work in our trust on CPD and portfolios. We’vetaken the approach that it’s possible to learn (or demonstrate learning)from a variety of seemingly unpromising sources. If you do any teaching ofstudents or other staff, you can include that, and put in some reflection ofhow it went; it doesn’t have to be clever to show how you have learnedsomething.If you’ve had a patient with an unusual problem that required you

to do some finding out in order to progress his/her programme, you canuse that as evidence of learning if you do a short reflection on whathappened.

• In our PCT because primary care staff get protected time for learning, thishas been extended to other services in the PCT, and while it’s not verymuch, it means that time for learning is respected within the organisationeven if it can be a challenge to take the time.

• I picked up a very good tip with regard to reflection; however, this tipmay be easy for me as I work in the community. After each visit taketime to jot down ‘what happened in the visit’, ‘what went well’,‘what did not go so well’, ‘what you would do next time’ and then an‘action plan’. . . . have tried it a few times, only takes a couple ofminutes. It also jogs your memory if you come to write it up in moredetail.

• In my current job the management team issues targets each year. This timelast year everyone had to produce a portfolio including a career historyand some reflective logs. By January, in anticipation of the annual

Planning your CPD


appraisal cycle people had to produce a self-review. Then following theappraisals (all done April/May) people had a development plan to put intheir portfolios. This autumn we have to produce evidence of effectivenessin practice. This means that we have to produce reflective logs and then arounding-up summary showing that we are effective in our practicewhatever our role.

• In our trust we hold a research forum that meets once every three monthsfor practitioners either engaged in or with an interest in research projects.These meetings are hosted by our local Higher Education Institution (HEI).(consider hOT Topics: Getting Started in Research Aug 05, Writing ResearchProposals May 06 – www.cot.co.uk/members/librarycot)

With thanks to those individuals who joined the discussion forum on the COTwebsite (2005) and agreed to the use of their comments.

5 Integrating CPD into services

Many services will already be incorporating the CPD principles into theirprofessional practice; however, one of the stages often missed is the wayin which this integration is evidenced in terms of documentation,for example:• Personal development planning (PDP)/appraisal becomes easier to plan for

with a clear focus for discussion and negotiation if you use thedocumentation to include CPD activity. You can therefore begin tonegotiate for both the formal learning and the informal opportunities in astructured way.

• Supervision – most services now have a robust supervision policy. Feedbackand clear documentation from these sessions could be used todemonstrate evidence of up-to-date CPD activity linking clearly to PDP andthe decisions agreed at annual appraisal. (consider hOT Topic: SupervisionFeb 06 – www.cot.co.uk/members/librarycot)

• Journal clubs – some services have found these to be effective, but it willdepend on the resources (staffing, time constraints, premises and so on)available. Effective journal clubs are those that have a clear focus and ashared responsibility by members of the group to rotate the hosting.Articles should be critically considered with documentation that can againbe used as evidence. Reflection on how this process has impacted onpractice with perhaps written feedback of this within supervision would beuseful and ties everything together. (consider hOT Topic: Journal Clubs Nov01 – www.cot.co.uk/members/librarycot)

Table 1 on pages 8–9 highlights many other areas where CPD could beincluded in services either as an innovative activity or by creating a moreformalised feedback loop for existing activities.

Planning your CPD


Table 1 Other examples for CPD activity innovation (informed by COT Manager’sSurvey conducted Nov–Dec 2005)

These are listed in alphabetical order and not in order of importance.

Related to activity Related to time Related to fundingFurther information onawards can be found atwww.cot.co.uk/members/research/awards

• Access to training sessions • Away days for all staff • Strategic Health Authorityat local HEIs • All staff given half day (SHA) still provides some

• All staff issued with a CPD a month as CPD time limited monies with whichportfolio and encouraged to • Six weekly clinical wecommissionshortcourseskeep them up to date effectiveness forums from across the patch

• APPLE training • Staff allowed five days • Underspends are still the(www.cot.co.uk) a year to job shadow major method of

• Audit programme for all staff chosen areas supporting conferences,• Certificates of attendance • Job shadowing Masters degrees etcgiven if contributed to encouraged if Consider also:project or working group appropriate either for • Agnes Storar/Dr Constance

• Clinical governance one day or one day a Owens Fund – providesdevelopment group week for a period of time travel bursaries for

• Cross borough special • Staff are allowed three occupational therapyinterest groups months to spend time in teachers in recognised

• Cross professional other specific areas as a schools of occupationalsupervision secondment opportunity therapy to enable them

• E-learning programmes • All staff given one to travel abroad toin place from day a month observe the practicethe trust for CPD of occupational

• Encouraging staff to use • Bi-monthly all-day devel- therapy and the teachingreflective tools opment session for staff of Occupational Therapy

• Job shadowing for hard • Each peer group has or to attend relevantto recruit areas one day a year out to international conferences

• Joint treatment sessions look at service and • The Elizabeth Casson• Networking with similar professional direction Trust – The Elizabethservices • Lunchtime seminar Casson trustees are

• Pilot projects programme with prepared to consider• Presentations within trust invited speakers requests for financialand nationally • Research fellow position support from individual

• Regional/local networks 50 per cent time occupational therapists,to support development in dedicated to PhD occupational therapyspecialist clinical areas • Unpaid sabbaticals, for services and educational

• Representation at regional example one working establishments. Examplesadvisory level to DoH with tsunami victims of areas in which

• Research groups/ building a school and assistance will bejournal clubs one in Romania working considered include

Integrating CPD into services


• All staff given half daya month as CPD time

• All staff given oneday a monthfor CPD

• Away days for all staff• Bi-monthly all-day devel-opment session for staff

• Each peer group hasone day a year out tolook at service andprofessional direction

• Job shadowingencouraged ifappropriate either forone day or one day aweek for a period of time

• Lunchtime seminarprogramme withinvited speakers

• One hour a month togive feedback ontraining courses etc

• Research fellow position50 per cent timededicated to PhD

• Six weekly clinicaleffectiveness forums

• Staff allowed five daysa year to job shadowchosen areas

• Staff are allowed threemonths to spend time inother specific areas as asecondment opportunity

• Unpaid sabbaticals, forexample one working

• Roles on committees with tsunami victims contributions towards theand conferences building a school and cost of attendance at

• Student education one in Romania working conferences or courses,• Suggested reading for within mental health including postgraduatestaff/hOT Topics courses and research and

• Teaching sessions teaching projects• Team development • Margaret Dawson Fund –• Visits to other units provides travel bursaries• Write, publish and for the benefit ofpresent at conferences qualified occupational

therapists in clinicalpractice or (at thediscretion of the College)final year occupationaltherapy students toenable or assist suchpersons to travel abroadto observe the practice ofoccupational therapyoverseas, to attendappropriate internationalconferences or for suchpurposes of a like natureas the College shall thinkfit

6 CPD tools

There are a number of tools available that can guide and support you inplanning your CPD. Examples are available as hard copy within the PQF or canbe downloaded by members from the COT website (www.cot.org.uk). Theseinclude:• examples of reflective logs;• personal development planning;• SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats);• role reflection.

In addition, a career narrative tool has been developed which facilitates indepth reflection on your career path to date and enables consideration andidentification of future opportunities. This can also be downloaded from theCOT website.

Related to activity Related to time Related to fundingFurther information onawards can be found atwww.cot.co.uk/members/research/awards

Integrating CPD into services


References

AHP (2003) Demonstrating competence through CPD. London: DOH. Available at:http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/06/71/20/04067120.pdf Accessed 29.06.06.

College of Occupational Therapists (2001) College of Occupational Therapists researchand development strategic vision and action plan. London: COT.

College of Occupational Therapists (2002) College of Occupational Therapists: positionstatement on lifelong learning. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65(5),198–200.

Commission of the European Communities (2001) Making a European area of lifelonglearning a reality. (COM(2001) 678 final). Available at:http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/ policies/lll/life/communication/com_en.pdfAccessed on 02.08.06.

Department of Health (2001) Working together: learning together a framework forlifelong learning for the NHS. London: DoH.

Health Professions Council (2006) Your guide to our standards for continuingprofessional development. London: HPC. Available at: http://www.hpc-uk.org/assets/documents/100011AOshort-guide-to-CPD.doc Accessed on 22.08.06.

Sherratt C (2005) The journal club: a method for occupational therapists to bridge thetheory-practice gap. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68(7), 301–306.

References


www.cot.org.ukTel: 020 7357 6480 Fax: 020 7450 2299

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© 2006 College of Occupational Therapists Ltd. A registered charity in Englandand Wales (No. 275119) and in Scotland (No. SCO39573) and a company registered in England (No. 1347374)

Post Qualifying FrameworkCPD and career planning booklet

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