The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) requires all social workers to be registered with it. There are set standards for continuing professional development, and every time a social worker renews their registration they must confirm that they meet these standards.
This year, all social workers are required to renew their registration with the council by the 30 November, and 2.5% of those renewing will be audited. Anyone selected for audit must send in a profile showing how their professional development meets the council’s standards.
Selected for audit?
If you are chosen for audit, then don’t panic: there is plenty of information to help you through the process. You will be asked to provide a profile which must include:
A summary of your practice history for the last two years (up to 500 words).
A statement of how you have met the standards of continuing professional development (up to 1500 words).
Evidence to support your statement.
All the profiles are assessed, and the assessors decide if the individual’s profile meets the required standards.
Top tips
Act now and don’t put it off
Don’t just describe your day-to-day work. Choose a range of different activities you have undertaken over the past two years (between four and six in total) and describe what you learned from each.
Provide good evidence for each of the activities. Reflective logs, case studies, presentations, certificates and feedback from your service users would all be relevant.
Remember, it is about quality not quantity – choose evidence which shows how you think you have met the standards
Include a dated list of your professional development activities within the audit period, the last two years of registration. If you have any gaps of three months or more they will have to be explained.
Ensure confidentiality when including your evidence – make sure none of your evidence or your statement includes references to named individuals
Make sure the evidence that you send in will back up the statements you make in your profile. It should show that you have undertaken the activities you have referred to, and should also show how they have improved the quality of your work and benefited service users.
Be concise, but provide sufficient detail on how your learning activities had an impact on your service and be clear about how each standard has been met.
Keep a personal log of your continuing professional development, so that if you move jobs or your circumstances change you will still have access to it.
Don’t forget that the summary of your practice history should help to show the assessors how your development activities are linked to your work.
The council’s approach to assessing professional development focuses on the outcome of your activities – how they have benefited you and your service users, not how many hours or points you have. It’s up to you, along with your manager, to think about what you need to do to keep up to date in your area of practice.
For more information about re-registration, auditing and continuing professional development, visit the HCPC website. The professional bodies also provide tools and advice if you have been selected for audit. Visit The College of Social Work or BASW.
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