Are you fit to practise? What you need to know about the Health and Care Professions Council 2016 audit of CPD records of social workers in England

Transcription

1 Are you fit to practise? What you need to know about the Health and Care Professions Council 2016 audit of CPD records of social workers in England Authors - Greg Slay: Quality Assurance Lead, Adults Services; Tracy Davis: Service Development Lead for Professional Practice 1. What s up? 1.1 There will be an England-wide audit of 2.5% of qualified social workers Continuing Professional Development (CPD) records. This is of social workers registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The audit period is from 1 st August-31 st December Employers do not know, and will not be told, who will be selected at random for this. It could be you: if it is, you will be given two months notice by the HCPC to complete your CPD records to its satisfaction. 1.2 As an employer the County Council has signed up to the Social Work Reform Board s Standards for Employers. Consequently as an employer we are committed to ensuring that staff who may be affected by this audit are aware of what is happening, when, and what the likely requirements will be. 1.3 If you are a qualified social worker and you have kept your own CPD records up-to-date, particularly a chronological and continuing reflective record of your CPD, you will not find preparing for the audit particularly onerous. If, on the other hand, you have yet to make any significant start on this, now is the time to do so. 1.4 Even if your own individual CPD records are not required for inspection, the HCPC will still require a signed statement from you about your own CPD when you need to renew your professional registration. Bluffing your way through that process is not advised as it could lead to a potential professional conduct hearing by the HCPC, and will also be a capability issue for West Sussex County Council. After all, when you registered as a social worker with the HCPC you signed up to continuing professional development and to have your name on a publicly accessible register as someone who is effectively an ambassador for social work practice, willing to work in that role in any of a range of employers. Copyright West Sussex County Council / Version 1.2 / 11 th May 2016 Page 1

2 2. What can you do to help yourself? 2.1 You should be familiar by now with the HCPC s Standards of Proficiency document. It is available on the HCPC website (hcpc-uk.org/registrants/cpd/) and can be downloaded. The template CPD Profile can also be downloaded. 2.2 The website has a document linking these Standards with the Professional Capabilities Framework hosted by the British Association of Social Workers. The domains of the Professional Capability Framework are linked to an equivalent standard of practice from student social worker through to principal social worker. The HCPC does not however require social workers to cross reference evidence of CPD to the Professional Capability Framework. Making these links may however be helpful for reflection on your practice - and also for your own future reference. If you are a member of the British Association of Social Workers you can access e-portfolio documents through the membership dashboard, MyBASW. 2.3 Have you got the supporting evidence for your CPD learning? You can access event evaluations on the County Council s Learning and Development Gateway by selecting My Learning followed by events attended. 2.4 Types of learning that could count towards your CPD are described below on pages 3-4. A sample completed table (below, page 5) shows how easy it can be to record learning undertaken and the location of any supporting material. On page 6 (below) is a blank form that you can use for yourself as an aide memoire to help in bringing the material together for the formal record that will be required by the HCPC if you are selected for the audit. As a registered social worker you must: maintain a continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of your CPD activities; demonstrate that your CPD activities are a mixture of learning activities relevant to current or future practice; seek to ensure that your CPD has contributed to the quality of their practice and service delivery; seek to ensure that you CPD benefits the service user/customer/carer; upon request, present a written profile (which must be their own work and supported by evidence) explaining how you have met the standards for CPD. Copyright West Sussex County Council / Version 1.2 / 11 th May 2016 Page 2

3 Types of learning for CPD Work-based learning Professional activity Learning by doing; Case studies; Reflective practice; Clinical and/or professional audit; Coaching from others; Discussions with colleagues, for example through a learning set approach; Peer review; Gaining, and learning from, experience; Involvement in wider work of employer; Work shadowing; Secondments; Job rotation; Journal club; In-service training; Supervising staff or students; Visiting other departments and reporting back; Expanding your role; Analysing significant events; Filling in self-assessment questionnaires; Project work or project management. Membership of a professional body; Active involvement in a professional body; Membership of a specialist interest group; Lecturing or teaching including being a visiting lecturer for a university social work course; Mentoring; Coaching; Being an examiner; Being a tutor; Being a practice educator or supervisor; Organising journal clubs or other specialist groups; Maintaining or developing specialist skills ; Being an expert witness; Membership of other professional bodies or groups; Giving presentations at conferences; Organising accredited courses; Supervising research; Peer reviewing an article for a professional journal; Being a national assessor; Getting promoted to a more senior role. Copyright West Sussex County Council / Version 1.2 / 11 th May 2016 Page 3

4 Types of learning for CPD Formal / educational Self-directed learning Courses; Further education; Research; Attending conferences and sharing your reflections subsequently in writing with team colleagues; Writing articles or papers; Going to seminars; Distance learning; Courses accredited by professional body; Planning or running a course. Reading journals/articles; Writing a book review for a national journal such as British Journal of Social Work ; Updating knowledge through the internet or TV; Keeping a file of your progress. 3. What does maintaining a continuous, up-to-date and accurate CPD record mean? 3.1 Social workers should keep a chronological record of CPD activities. The learning from big-ticket items such as training to be an Approved Mental Health Professional, or a Practice Educator, or a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Best Interests Assessor, will be helpful. The record needs to show a range of learning methods - and reflection on how the learning is improving service delivery and delivering better outcomes for service users. Keeping the continuous record going, perhaps by updating it on a monthly basis, is a good way of working. 3.2 You may find it useful to read the sample CPD profiles prepared by the British Association of Social Workers and published, alongside CPD profiles for other disciplines regulated by the HCPC, on the HCPC website. You will see that in those examples the written work that is required for the audit is not particularly onerous, as you will be expected to supply a short profile of yourself (maximum 500 words) and a personal statement (maximum 1500 words) identifying how your learning has met, and continues to meet, the HCPC s CPD Standards. Copyright West Sussex County Council / Version 1.2 / 11 th May 2016 Page 4

5 Example table of evidence: Date Example Type of activity How has this developed your practice? 1/3/16 Presentation at an Adults Services best practice group meeting regarding a specific disability Work-based learning Improved quality of assessments and support plans; greater knowledge of subject area; multidisciplinary working How has this benefitted service users? Improved awareness of risks Evidence reference Best Practice Group meeting minutes Link to Professional Capability Framework Intervention and skills 2/4/16 Attended safeguarding training Formal / educational Learnt about the relevance of safeguarding to my role (new skills). Enhanced understanding of safeguarding processes esp. joint work with police Improved risk management. Greater awareness of good communication skills and avoiding leading questions Learning and development gateway: event certificate Professionalism 3/5/16 Gave presentation to doctors regarding social worker role Professional activity Confidence in presentation and communication skills; networking with allied professionals Improved efficiency and appropriateness of referrals. Presentation information made available to colleagues MS Powerpoint presentation Contexts and organisations 4/5/16 Watched Social Care TV* programme on dementia care practice Self-directed learning Reflected on own practice and value base. Application of learning for better engagement with carers Heightened awareness of evidence-based practice Supervision notes Values and Ethics (*at: scie.org.uk) Copyright West Sussex County Council / Version 1.2 / 11 th May 2016 Page 5

6 Name: HCPC Registration No: Date Example Type of activity How has this developed your practice? How has this benefitted service users or carers? Evidence reference Link to PCF and/or HCPC Standards Page: Date: Copyright West Sussex County Council / Version 1.2 / 11 th May 2016 Page 6