Registered CRPs

It is important for Registered CRPs to keep on top of their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and be ready to maintain their registration each year. Read on for more information.

What is Continuing Professional Development (CPD)?

In healthcare, even the smallest mistake can have consequences. That's why all Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) registrants must commit to CPD.

CPD is a lifelong learning process that helps healthcare professionals meet the needs of their patients and deliver high-quality care. It's a requirement for CRP registration and is essential for maintaining your skills and knowledge.

Active participation in CPD benefits both your career and the safety and well-being of your patients.

Why is CPD important?

CPD isn't just about ticking boxes. It's a powerful tool that helps you:

Maintain professional recognition: CPD is a requirement for CRP registration. If you don’t maintain CPD, you will be removed from the Register
Stay competent and fit to practise: CPD helps you keep your skills and knowledge up-to-date
Deliver high-quality care: Continuous learning and improvement creates a culture of excellence and safety at work
Boost your career: CPD can increase job satisfaction, motivation and lead to exciting new opportunities
Support your personal development: CPD is key to your growth as a healthcare professional

What counts as CPD?

CPD can be completed in a variety of different ways, and you will be expected to demonstrate that you have completed a variety of different types of CPD activities relevant to your current or future work. Usually the AHCS will expect to see at least least three different types of activities, unless there is a valid reason for you to concentrate on two types of CPD activities.

Please click on the expandable sections below to see the different types of CPD activities you can take part in. This is not an exhaustive list, and you should also speak to your line manager about what CPD will be useful in your role.

Further information about the ways in which you can undertake CPD and examples of CPD evidence are provided in the AHCS’s Continuing Professional Development Standards and Guidance document.

Statutory and mandatory training

The training included in your Continuing Professional Development log should be relevant to your scope of practice as a CRP.

Statutory training is required by law on the basis of legislation (e.g. Health and Safety legislation).

Good Clinical Practice (GCP) is the agreed international standard for conducting clinical research. GCP training is required by law for researchers (including CRPs) working on research studies.

In view of this, statutory training is not considered part of your professional development and should not therefore be included in your Continuing Professional Development log.

Mandatory training is compulsory training that is determined essential by an organisation for the safe and efficient delivery of services (e.g. hand hygiene). Mandatory training not directly related to your practice (e.g. fire training) should not be included as part of your Continuing Professional Development log because it does not develop you as a healthcare professional. However, if you undertake mandatory training that is relevant to your scope of practice and professional development, such as training on equality awareness and eliminating bullying and harassment, you can include that.

Work based learning

Experiential learning
Lessons learned
Case studies
Reflective practice
Audit of patients
Coaching from others
Discussing and reviewing activities with colleagues
Peer review
Work shadowing or job rotation
Observing how colleagues work
Supervising staff or students
Secondments
Visiting other departments and reporting back
Expanding your role
Significant analysis of events
Filling in self-assessment questionnaires
Appraisals/Personal Development Reviews
Being part of a forum e.g. R&D Forum
Attending Chief Investigator/Principal Investigator meetings
Project/Clinical TRial/Research management
Supervision conversations including clinical supervision
Improving your working practices

Professional activities

Membership of a specialist interest group
Lecturing, teaching or mentoring
Being a tutor or examiner
Branch meetings
Organising journal clubs or other specialist groups
Maintaining or developing specialist skills
Being an expert witness
Membership of other professional groups or societies
Giving presentations at conferences
Organising accredited courses
Supervising research
Being a national assessor
Taking on a Champion role
Managing/attending patient groups
Managing/attending workshops

Formal/educational activities

Induction
Employer mandatory training
Statutory training
NIHR Learn E-Learning modules e.g. Informed Consent
Good Clinical Practice training)
Site Initiation Visit (SIV)Study-specific training
Competency training
Clinical and lab skills
Training offered by Health Education England (e.g. Care Certificate), NHS England, NHS Elect Academy for Healthcare Science, Community for Allied Health Professions Research, Charities
Masterclasses
Online learning e.g. FutureLearn and LinkedIn
Private courses e.g. Siobhan Lim
Industry programmes e.g. Pharma
Personal development training e.g. interview skills, unconscious bias, dealing with difficult situations, training in promotional skills
Further education (e.g. university modules or courses)
Attending conferences/other events
Writing articles or papers
Going to seminars
Planning or running a course

Self-directed learning activities

Reading books, journals or articles
Reviewing books or articles
Updating your knowledge through the internet or TV
Keeping a file of your progress

Other activities

Networking
Campaigns
Site selection visits
Public service
Voluntary work
Courses (not directly linked to role)

How to evidence CPD

You can evidence your CPD in a wide variety of ways. Please click on the expandable sections below to see the different ways in which you can evidence your CPD activities. This is not an exhaustive list, the evidence you keep will vary depending on the type of CPD you have undertaken.

Things you may have produced

Information leaflets
Case studies
Critical literature reviews
Adapted user/student notes
Policy or position statements
Discussion documents
Procedural documents
Documents relating to national or local processes (e.g. schemes for peer review, mentorship or clinical supervision)
Recent job applications
Reports (e.g. on project work, clinical audit, reviews of activity)
Business plans
Protocols
Guidance materials (e.g. for service users, colleagues or students)
Clinical audit tools
Clinical guidelines
Course assignments
Action plans
Course programme documents
Presentations
Articles produced for publication
Questionnaires
Research papers/proposals/funding applications/ethical approval applications
Induction materials for new members of staff
Learning contracts
Contributions to work of a professional body
Contributions to work of a special interest group

Materials demonstrating reflection and evaluation of learning and practice

Profiles drawn from learning portfolios
Adapted documentation arising from appraisal, clinical supervision, job evaluation, compliance with locally-implemented competence frameworks.
Documentation from compliance with local or national CPD schemes
Evaluation of courses/conferences attended
Personal development plans
Documented and approved claims for academic credit for prior or experiential learning

Materials acquired from others

Testimonies
Letters from users, carers, students or colleagues
Course certificates

CPD suggestions

We have provided some suggestions of CPD you may wish to undertake below. This is not an exhaustive list. If you have any other suggestions to add to this list, please discuss these with your local CRP Engagement Lead.

NIHR Learn courses

Digital engagement support tools

Select the Digital engagement support tools tile on the Life Science Customers Resource Centre

Leadership skills

Leadership E-Learning modules

Other courses and training

Future Learn

NHS England

MECC Making Every Contact Count – elearning for health

Government Guidance

Agile delivery - How to work in an agile way: principles, tools and governance
Government Design Principles - The UK government's design principles and examples of how they've been used

The professional association for healthcare finance

HFMA bitesize courses for staff working in the NHS and wider healthcare sector This link includes courses about managing conflict, project management, innovation and improvement, management and leadership, motivation and relationship management

Leadership

NHS Leadership academy
Edward Jenner programme
Mary Seacole

NIHR

INSIGHT programme - NIHR awards £33.2m to inspire students into research - a new training programme to attract students and early career professionals into research

See local NIHR Learn pages for:

PI Essentials training
AcORD training (costs attribution session)

Become a Good Clinical Practice Facilitator

Person Specification for the NIHR Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Facilitator role

GCP Facilitators should have 5 years’ research delivery experience, relevant practice-based experience of working in an active health and care research environment and a sound subject understanding of the principles and practice of GCP. GCP Facilitators should have completed GCP refresher and recently completed the Introduction to Good Clinical Practice Elearning as a refresher. GCP Facilitators should be committed to the time and self-development required to be effective in this role, have the capacity to deliver the programme within their current workload and have the support of their line manager.

GCP Facilitators should have:

A strong interest in helping other people to learn
A willingness to deliver interactive programmes of learning in GCP which enable application of GCP in practice
Effective communication skills and the ability to engage with all members of the research community
A sound subject understanding of the principles and practice of GCP and how they relate to research delivery and/or research governance
Commitment to or experience of being part of a team who has implemented changes and improvements that relate to GCP quality standards in your practice
A collaborative and flexible approach to delivering GCP training in line with the priorities and objectives of the RRDN, including the ability to deliver GCP across a regional area depending on local needs
Willingness and motivation to work effectively within the GCP Facilitation community

Benefits of Being a GCP Facilitator

Professional Development
- Ongoing learning and skill enhancement in GCP knowledge and facilitation
- Opportunities to engage with fellow facilitators and develop training expertise
Recognition & Authorisation
- Official recognition as an NIHR RDN GCP Facilitator
- Authorisation to deliver NIHR GCP training workshops
Networking & Collaboration
- Engagement with a community of facilitators and GCP Programme Leads
- Access to key stakeholder information such as regulation updates, inspection findings etc
Skill Enhancement & Confidence Building
- Regular training delivery helps build confidence and expertise in facilitation
- Access to attend the NIHR GCP Virtual Facilitation Skills training
Impact on Clinical Research in the UK
- Contribution to high-quality GCP training, ensuring compliance and best practices in research
- Helping shape the knowledge and competency of research professionals

Next steps

If you are interested in becoming a GCP Facilitator, please email your Regional Research Delivery Network:

East Midlands: em.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
East of England: eoe.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
North East and North Cumbria: nenc.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
North London: nl.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
North West: nw.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
South Central: sc.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
South East: se.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
South London: sl.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
South West Central: swc.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
South West Peninsula: swp.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
West Midlands: wm.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
Yorkshire and Humber: yh.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk

Self-directed leadership and management

Discuss with your line manager (potentially during your appraisal)

Line management opportunities and appraisal training - line managing lower bandings
Deputy PI opportunities or PI
Mentoring other staff
Shadowing other teams
Advocating role
Secondments into other areas - e.g. governance
Ethics committee attendance and observation

Via GCP Programme Lead in your Regional Research Delivery Network

NIHR GCP Facilitator training

Potentially future growth development and planning leading to academic qualifications

Postgraduate qualifications in leading clinical research delivery
The NIHR Academy’s research career development funding programmes are explained on the NIHR website
In this video, Joy Agbonmwandolor, AHCS Registered Senior Research Officer explains how CRP registration benefited her career and provides top tips for CRPs who want to become clinical academics

Other CRP development

Ask what CRPs in higher leadership roles did

Develop clinical skills as appropriate:

Phlebotomy
ECGs
Consent, especially assessing capacity

By attending external courses to be nationally certified or investigating with your Trust/area of work - you can become a trainer in clinical skills i.e. able to train and sign off others in their chosen skill e.g. phlebotomy

Attend local, regional, and national conferences when permitted

The R&D national forum is particularly noteworthy

External courses, especially in:

Communication
Supervision
Line management
Project management

Finding time for CPD

It can be challenging to find the time to undertake CPD if you have a busy work schedule. We have provided some suggestions below to help you make the time for your CPD.

Changing how you think about CPD

CPD isn’t just about completing courses, attending conferences and working on projects. You will do some CPD activities as part of your usual working week, such as:

Observing how colleagues work
Supervising colleagues
Coaching or being coached
Reflecting on patient contact
Discussing and reviewing activities with colleagues
Improving your working practices

Regularly record your CPD

Recording CPD regularly will help this to become part of your work routine, making it a much more manageable task and helping you to see how much you have learned.

We recommend you use this CPD Log Template to record your CPD in a way that will help you to meet the AHCS's standards for CPD. If you have any problems accessing this template, please email rdnworkforcedevelopment@nihr.ac.uk.

AHCS requirements for CPD

The AHCS’s standards for CPD

Amount of CPD: No set amount of CPD is required but you should proactively plan your learning and development. We would usually expect to see an average of two pieces of learning completed each year, in addition to statutory training, mandatory training and study-specific training
Keep a CPD record: If audited, you'll need to submit a CPD profile demonstrating how you meet the CPD standards. We recommend you use this CPD Log Template (if you have any problems accessing this template, please email rdnworkforcedevelopment@nihr.ac.uk) to record your CPD in a way that will help you to meet the AHCS's standards for CPD
Mix it up: Use a variety of CPD activities relevant to your current or future work. Usually you are expected to demonstrate at least three different types of activities, unless there is a valid reason for you to concentrate on two types of CPD activities
Aim for quality: Choose activities that improve your practice and service delivery
Benefit others: Focus on learning that helps you benefit the service user

CPD Audits: Ensuring quality and safety

To maintain high standards of patient care and public trust, the AHCS regularly reviews CPD activities. This helps to ensure everyone is keeping their skills and knowledge up-to-date.

Regular audits: The AHCS conducts CPD audits each year
Random selection: 3% of registered CRPs are selected for each audit
Additional checks: The AHCS can request CPD evidence at any time, even outside of scheduled audits
Important: If you don't provide evidence of your CPD, you could be removed from the Register

If you are selected for a CPD audit, you will need to complete a CPD profile on your online AHCS account to show how you have met the AHCS’s standards for CPD. This includes:

A Summary of your practice history for the last two years (maximum 500 words)
A Personal Statement, identifying how you have met the AHCS CPD standards, how your CPD activities improved the quality of your work and, if your CPD activities have not benefited service users, what you will do in the future (maximum 1500 words)
A Summary of the Supporting Evidence Submitted, with a brief description of the evidence, number of pages and / or description of the evidence format

Further information about the AHCS’s standards for CPD and its CPD audit process is available on its website.

Maintaining registration

You need to renew your Registration each year, otherwise you will be removed from the Register. To complete your renewal, you will need to:

Reconfirm or update your personal details
Reconfirm or update your career details
Sign the declaration
Reconfirm that you meet the good character and health statements
Revalidate your Direct Debit details to pay the renewal fee. Information about the fees is on the AHCS website

As part of your commitment to registration, you must agree to keep records of your CPD activities, which can be audited by the AHCS.

Supporting others with their applications

There are a few ways you can do this :

Informally through peer support, offering guidance and answering questions
Arrange a local workshop for CRPs in your area
Work with others in your team to consider setting up a CRP support programme (take a look at the programme set up by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust)
Become a CRP lead in your Trust and start a local forum for discussion
If you have useful resources for CRPs, please email rdnworkforcedevelopment@nihr.ac.uk so we can add them to this site for others to benefit from

Log onto the Register via the AHCS site

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