This informal CPD article ‘CPD in healthcare: Now and beyond’ was provided by Dr Jacqueline Haughton, Medical Director at Healthcare Skills International, an approved education centre delivering a range of externally validated competence-based qualifications to the medical profession and healthcare industry.
To ensure ongoing clinical effectiveness in present and future roles, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs must cater to a spectrum of requirements for healthcare professionals. These include staying updated on technical advancements, acquiring specialized knowledge relevant to one's field, and fostering personal growth and skill enhancement.
Technological innovations in healthcare
Transitioning to the use of a major technical innovation that could significantly impact clinical practice can be challenging for senior clinicians. Once new techniques have been learned, a profound change in the patient’s journey may be needed to implement change successfully, with ramifications well beyond a straightforward procedural switch. Many innovations can have a steep learning curve. By proactively engaging in training, seeking mentorship, implementing new technologies incrementally, leveraging support resources, and engaging in reflective practice, senior clinicians can navigate the challenges associated with adopting major technical innovations and embrace the opportunities they present for enhancing patient care and clinical outcomes.
Perfecting new skills and establishing their indications can expose the senior clinician to significant governance issues and reputational harm if they accrue insufficient expertise before practicing independently. Surgical audit and organisational governance managers may lack the background knowledge, or their audit tools may be too insensitive to recognise the change or decide when experience is sufficient to support a change to routine practice. Those interpreting and acting on audit data (whether directly or indirectly) may lack sufficient understanding and/ or insight to avoid harm to the practitioner through poor interpretation of outcomes.
At a time when senior clinicians are particularly time-poor, whether trainers or trainees of new tech, a premature change in service is tempting before sufficient experience has been gained.
In the coming years, the development of new technologies and pressure on senior clinicians to adopt them early will increase. Innovation in the medical device sector is occurring faster than ever, with computer and robotic-assistance and artificial intelligence ramping up the pace of change. With ageing populations increasing service pressures, high population co-morbidity post-COVID and a built-in saving of clinical time accompanying most innovation, early adoption will be attractive to healthcare and governmental organisations.
Deployment of new technology by ‘early adopters’ before the indications and complications of a ‘new tech’ procedure has been established in the context of older therapeutic measures, is an important factor supporting the pace of innovation – that, and the demand of patients for more effective and less invasive treatments, the need to drive down costs and the reduction in trained human resources associated with our ever-changing healthcare landscape. Post-pandemic, at a time when there is a huge backlog of work and particularly severe challenges to delivering a safe and effective clinical service in many healthcare systems, how do senior clinicians find sufficient time to learn (and teach) technical innovations and satisfy their personal developmental needs. to deliver the umbrella or ‘bigger picture’ roles in governance, organisational management and healthcare planning? Balancing personal development with clinical duties and broader organisational responsibilities is key to fostering a resilient and impactful healthcare practice.
