AHP project
Demonstrating competence through CPD
This Department of Health funded project, involving 14 allied health professions, aimed to develop an outcomes-based approach to demonstrating competence through CPD across all the AHPs.
The project:
- tested out an approach to demonstrating competence linked to quality of health care and the importance of CPD
- was based on the assumption that learning should be career long
- was based on the assumption that applying learning to practice and identifying what has been learned through practice is a cyclical process that is central to remaining competent.
The project was largely successful in meeting its aims and intended outcomes. It affirmed in broad terms that the AHPs share a common view on how they with to move forward with CPD, summarised as:
- a commitment to an outcomes based approach to ongoing learning and development, within which the focus in on individual's learning achievements and how these enhance patient/client care and service delivery (whether indirectly or directly)
- a commitment to providing a genuinely reflective approach to learning and practice, within which there is again a strong focus on patient/client need and active and critical use of the professions' growing evidence base.
- a parallel recognition that pursuing such an approach to CPD has to be supported by a range of agencies at national and local levels.
The project drew heavily on the work of all the participating professions in related areas to allow the sharing of good practice for mutually beneficial ends. The project highlighted that further exploratory work should be undertaken to develop the model and the CSP has undertaken further work on its own outcomes model based on the recommendations from the project.
A final copy of the project report is available on the Department of Health website. Enter the term 'CPD reports' into the search facility and select the first link to CPD which will take you to the relevant section of the site for the project report.
