Why is CPD important in occupational therapy?

What is occupational therapy? This article helps to explain what occupational therapy is and how CPD plays an important role within it. In summary, CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development is one of the key mechanisms used to help maintain high standards of professional conduct and professional education among registrants. As occupational therapists you are required to keep a fully up to date CPD portfolio, as failure to do so could result in your registration with the HCPC being revoked. In this article we will look further into the professional bodies for occupational therapists, and how to meet their CPD requirements.

What is occupational therapy?

Occupational therapy (OT) is a science degree-based, health and social care profession, regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Occupational therapy enables individuals who struggle with both mental and physical health to achieve their full potential. Occupational therapy can be defined as the use of assessment and intervention to develop, recover, or maintain the meaningful activities, or occupations, of individuals, groups, or communities. Occupational therapy can help you with practical tasks if you:

• are physically disabled
• are recovering from an illness or operation
• have learning disabilities
• have mental health problems
• are getting older 

Occupational therapists work with people of all ages and can look at all aspects of daily life in your home, school or workplace. They look at activities you find difficult and see if there's another way you can do them. If you are still wondering what is occupational therapy, then click here to read more about it on the Royal College of Occupational Therapists website.

Professional bodies for Occupational therapists

What are the professional bodies for occupational therapists? The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is the main regulatory body for occupational therapists, and you must be registered with them in order to be officially recognised as occupational therapists. A major requirement of the HCPC for license renewal, is that the individual must have a fully complete CPD portfolio outlining the professional development they have undertaken within the last two years. Failure to present proof of doing so may result in your registration being revoked.

Why is CPD important in occupational therapy?

In order to be officially recognised as occupational therapists, you are required to be registered. Every two years your registration will renew and the HCPC might ask you to provide them with evidence that you have been keeping up to date with the latest developments within your industry.

The best method of keeping record of your professional development is by having a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) portfolio. Taking part in the CPD cycle each year is one of the best ways of making sure you meet the CPD requirements set by the HCPC, and will therefore help towards getting your license renewed.

If you are audited by the HCPC and you fail to provide a complete CPD portfolio, then they will refuse to renew you registration with them. This will mean that you won’t be able to practise as occupational therapists in the UK until you can re-register with them.

CPD guidelines for Occupational therapists

All practicing occupational therapists must complete a minimum of 30 hours of CPD per year directed towards maintaining and improving competence in occupational therapy practice. There are five CPD guidelines for occupational therapists which must be followed in order for their training activities to be counted as part of their professional development. A registrant must: 

1. Maintain a continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of their CPD activities.
2. Demonstrate that their CPD activities are a mixture of learning activities relevant to current or future practice.
3. Seek to ensure that their CPD has contributed to the quality of their practice and service delivery.
4. Seek to ensure that their CPD benefits the service user.
5. Upon request, present a written profile (which must be their own work and supported by evidence) explaining how they have met the Standards for CPD. 

Occupational therapy CPD courses

If you an individual looking to complete occupational therapy CPD courses and events relevant for your individual Continuing Professional Development requirements, please visit our CPD Courses Catalogue, or alternatively see a full range of CPD providers who are experts in their particular fields from across the industries.

Become a CPD training provider

We hope this article was helpful. Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured.

If you are interested in offering training courses, seminars, workshops, eLearning, or educational events suitable for Continuing Professional Development, please visit the Become a CPD Provider page or contact our team to discuss in more detail. Alternatively, if you are looking for a free online CPD record tool to help manage, track and log your ongoing learning, as well as store your professional training records and attendance certificates in one simple place, go to the myCPD Portal page.