What is CPD?

What is CPD? 

Any professional registered with a governing body must complete CPD, Continuing Professional Development, to meet the criteria of their registration. Unregistered staff, such as care workers and managers, are also expected to keep their skills up to date, especially when it comes to moving and handling people. So, what exactly do we mean by CPD? 

Each profession has their own registration requirements, governed by the registering body. For Allied Health Professionals, this is the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC). For nurses this is the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). For those delivering moving and handling training who are not registered, there are no clear rules on CPD, but all legislation states that the person must be suitably trained and experienced. 

What classes as CPD? 

The HCPC recognises the following four different categories:

• Work based learning – this could be reflection on practice or coaching by another
• Professional activity – such as lecturing, teaching or mentoring someone else
• Formal education – attending seminars or accredited courses
• Self-directed – this might be reading journals or updating your knowledge through research.

As professionals we need to ensure that the CPD we complete is relevant, credible, reliable and meets our development needs. Over the last year, access to free, virtual webinars has increased. Although many of these are very relevant to our roles and informative, many are aimed at promotion of service or product and have potential for bias. 

Training courses are a brilliant way to update a skill in a new area and gain a qualification at the same time but can be costly and do not refresh current skills only add to them. 

Reviewing and reflecting on practice, especially with colleagues has always been a reliable way to develop our skills. Over the last year this has been more difficult with limited to access to colleagues. One potential risk of this form of CPD is the limitations of the knowledge within a team, after all, you only know what you know. 

In a period where we have been forced to spend so much time on virtual communication, many of us are now desperate for a more hands on approach to CPD. 

The DLF Moving and Handling People Conference enables attendees to meet three of the four CPD categories above and it will provide information on best practice to help improve future practice. 

• A wide variety of exhibitors from the industry will be available to enable conversations and research on latest moving and handling products and techniques.
• The conference workshops facilitate hands-on practice and coaching by industry experts to ensure that your skills are fresh and current.
• Hugely important will be the networking opportunities with your peers from outside your own organisation, to help your reflection on your practice and sharing of your own knowledge and skills.

The conference will allow time away from the stresses of work, in a tranquil setting to reflect on what you have learnt and consider how you might improve your practice in the future. 

CPD Certified DLF is a certified provider of CPD, through The CPD Certification Service. The conference sessions attended are also accredited by CPD. The following description of CPD from The CPD Certification Service re-enforces the reasons to attend MHP 2022: “CPD combines different methodologies to learning, such as training workshops, conferences and events, e-learning programs, best practice techniques and ideas sharing, all focused for an individual to improve and have effective professional development.” Some see CPD as a chore, something that we have to do each year as a part of our roles but as Albert Einstein said,  “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”

For more information about DLF Moving and Handling People 2022