BDA advice

Enhanced CPD – a summary

January 2020
 Enhanced CPD – a summary

Contents Overview

3 Enhanced CPD Mandatory CPD was introduced in 2002 for dentists and 2008 for DCPs.
ECPD and your CPD cycle Professionals were required to undertake, over a five-year cycle, a minimum amount
Your CPD record of verifiable and non-verifiable CPD in core subjects over a five-year period. Failing
Annual declarations to comply with your CPD requirements will put your registration at risk.

5 Planning your CPD The scheme changed for dentists from January 2018 and for DCPs from August
Field of practice 2018. The new Enhanced CPD (ECPD) scheme encourages you to plan your CPD in
Development outcomes
relation to your training and development needs, consider the best way to obtain it,
to reflect on what you have learnt, the resulting changes to your practice, and to
6 Time away from the register
CPD abroad keep records.

7 Providing in-house CPD You will find it helpful to also refer to the GDC’s guidance and the transitioning
arrangements.
7 Risk management tips
Key learning points
This advice summarises the your CPD requirements and explains:

• Your CPD requirements for your five-year cycle and the minimum that you
should complete over each two-year period
• How should develop your personal development plan and relate your learning
needs to the GDC’s development outcomes
• The records that you must keep and the information that you must declare
annually to the GDC
• What to consider when planning your CPD
• Managing your CPD during a period away from the GDC’s Dentists Register.

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 Enhanced CPD Your CPD record
You must create a record of the verifiable CPD that you undertake; you no longer Your CPD record includes your PDP, a log of your CPD activity, documentary evidence
need to record or declare non-verifiable CPD. ECPD requires: from the CPD provider and an element of reflection. You must maintain your CPD
record throughout the five-year cycle and retain it for the following five years.
• Dentists: 100 hours of verifiable CPD per five-year cycle
Personal development plan
Hygienists/therapists: 75 hours of verifiable CPD per five-year cycle
Dental nurses: 50 hours of verifiable CPD per five-year cycle Your PDP allows you to identify your learning needs in your field of practice, how it
relates to the GDC’s development outcomes and how you will meet these needs
• At least 10 hours of verifiable CPD every two years
through regular CPD activity. It, therefore, must include:
• CPD record that includes your personal development plan (PDP), CPD activity
log, documentary evidence, and reflection
• CPD that you plan to undertake during your cycle, including CPD that is relevant
• Each activity must align to at least one of the GDC’s development outcomes to your current or intended field(s) of practice
• Annual declaration of your CPD hours for the year and that the CPD is relevant • Anticipated development outcomes that will link to each activity
to your field of practice. • Your timeframe for completing the CPD.

You must undertake at least 10 hours of verifiable CPD over two years. For example, You can design your own PDP or use the GDC’s template, which covers the following:
if you declared two hours one year, you must declare eight hours the following year
and at least two hours the year after. You cannot submit zero-declarations in two • The skills or knowledge that you need to develop or maintain in this cycle
consecutive years. • How this relates to your field of practice
• The GDC’s development outcome(s) that it links to
If you are working under temporary registration arrangements, you must undertake • How the CPD activity will help you to maintain or improve your daily work
at least 20 hours of CPD each year and submit an annual declaration. • What activities will help you meet your learning or maintenance needs
• Target dates for review and completion.
ECPD and your CPD cycle
ECPD will not affect your five-year CPD cycle, which is determined by the date of Your PDP should relate to the current CPD cycle and beyond, so should include:
your first registration with the GDC and will never change (even if you leave the
• Details of your CPD cycle
register for a period). Your annual retention fee (ARF) demand notice indicates
• Routine periodic training – for example, radiation protection, safeguarding or
where you are in your five-year cycle.
dealing with medical emergencies
• Topics that develop a personal interest or address a personal training need
If you are part-way through your CPD cycle, you will need to follow the old CPD
• Training resulting from new guidance, regulations or standards
scheme for the period until 31 December 2017 and the new ECPD scheme for the
• Issues highlighted via complaints, clinical audits/peer review or conversations
period starting 1 January 2018. Your CPD requirement is proportionate to the
with colleagues
number of years in each scheme. The GDC’s transition tool calculates the necessary
• How you might address each requirement – for example, training courses,
hours that you need to complete for both schemes. conferences, online learning, audit or peer review
• The relevant development outcome(s) for each topic or issue
• The expected benefit of the activity
• When you expect to complete it.

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 Review your plan at regular intervals and keep it updated with new topics as you Reflection
complete those you originally listed originally. Your plan needs to reflect what you Reflection on the CPD activity is an integral part of your CPD log. It requires you to
have included in your CPD log; you will make an annual declaration to the GDC of identify your reasons for the CPD activity, what you learnt from it, whether it met
the hours that you have completed. your objectives and any changes to your practice that you will make as a result.

An example PDP, based on the GDC’s template, is available on the CPD Hub. You can decide how you want to record your CPD reflection – for example
CPD log
• You might reflect on each CPD activity – some providers include space for
Your CPD log should include: reflection on the CPD certificate, or
• Reflect on a topic for which you have undertaken several CPD activities, or
• The title and description of the CPD activity
• The date(s) it was undertaken • Reflect on all your CPD activities, at the end of the year, when you review your
• The number of hours, as shown on the provider’s certificate of attendance PDP, or
• The GDC’s development outcome(s) provided by the activity • As a peer review activity or in-practice with input from colleagues.
• Your reflections on the CPD activity.

You can design your own CPD log or use the GDC’s template

Documentary evidence and verifiable CPD

The provider will usually give you a certificate as evidence of the verifiable CPD that
you have undertaken. The certificate should include:

• The subject, learning content, and aims and objectives of the CPD activity
• The anticipated GDC development outcomes (the activity must be linked to at
least one outcome)
• The date(s) of the CPD activity and the total number of hours
• Your name and GDC registration number
• A declaration that the CPD activity is quality assured and by who
• Confirmation from the provider that the information is accurate.

If some of this information is missing from the certificate, you should consider
keeping a course brochure, for example, to supplement your records.

Verifiable CPD can include courses and lectures, training days, hands-on clinical
training or workshops, clinical audit, attending conferences and online learning. In-
practice provision can count towards verifiable CPD if it meets the above
requirements.

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 Annual declarations Planning your CPD
At the end of each CPD year, you must declare: You must plan your CPD as it relates to your field of practice during your CPD cycle
and ensure that it meets at least one of the development outcomes.
• The number of CPD hours that you have undertaken during the year – this must
match the CPD listed in your activity log and your evidence Field of practice
• That you have kept a CPD record (PDP, log and evidence)
• That the activity has been relevant to your current or intended field of practice For each five-year cycle, you must choose CPD that includes activities relevant to
• That the information provided is complete and accurate. your field(s) of practice. Your CPD can help you to maintain your current skills or
help you to develop new skills. You can decide what you want to learn, how you want
You have until 28 days from your CPD year-end to submit your declaration. This to learn it, and what you expect to change as a result.
allows you to include CPD undertaken late in your CPD-year.
Although there is less emphasis on core topics, as part of the minimum verifiable
You can declare zero-hours CPD but cannot declare zero CPD for two consecutive CPD requirement, the GDC continues to recommend CPD topics that relate to many
years of your cycle; you must complete at least 10 hours of CPD every two years. At dental professionals in their field of practice: medical emergencies (at least two
the end of the five-year cycle, in addition to the above information, you must hours per year, 10 hours per cycle); disinfection and decontamination (five hours
declare the total number of CPD hours that you have undertaken during the cycle. per cycle); and, where relevant, radiography and radiation protection (five hours per
cycle). The GDC also recommends keeping up to date with legal and ethical issues,
The GDC will not routinely ask to see CPD records but it will do if you have failed to complaints handling, early detection of oral cancer, and safeguarding children,
make an annual declaration, if there are issues about compliance or you have been young people and vulnerable adults.
selected randomly to participate in an audit. The GDC can request CPD records for
any year, including from a previous CPD cycle. You must keep your records safe as You will include many of these topics in your PDP as routine periodic training
you may not be able to obtain copies of certificates or retrace your CPD activity, although, where your field of practice does not require knowledge in these areas,
you need not include these topics in your PDP.
You have 28 days to respond to a GDC’s request for records. If you are unable to
demonstrate CPD compliance, the GDC may instigate Fitness to Practice For other CPD activity, you should consider:
proceedings and, ultimately, your continued registration may be at risk. BDA
Indemnity can help with GDC investigations, disciplinary and/or administrative • The regular skills, practice and professional roles that you undertake, including
proceedings. clinical (general or specialist), teaching or mentoring roles
• CPD that is recommended by other regulatory bodies or, if you have additional
Critical reflection may highlight areas of weakness in your knowledge that have skills, the awarding body
helped you to plan your future CPD. However, if your records are reviewed by the • CPD relating to a current important theme (for example, oral cancer detection,
GDC, it will also review any identified areas of weakness. You might, therefore, wish smoking cessation, antimicrobial resistance)
to include only a summary of your planned CPD or an indication that you have • The patient population that you treat
undertaken reflection rather than provide an in-depth report. • Your practice/work setting.

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 Development outcomes Time away from the register
The GDC’s development outcomes encourage you to link your learning activity to If you leave the register (perhaps for a career break or to work or live abroad) with
its Standards for the Dental Team. You must link each CPD activity to at least one the intention of returning at a later stage, you will need to demonstrate to the GDC
development outcome and aim to cover all four development outcomes (A, B, C and that you have maintained your skills and knowledge. This means that you must
D) in your cycle. continue to meet your CPD requirements even when you are not on the register.

A Effective communication with patients, the dental team, and others across Before you leave the register, you should be fully aware of what you will need to do
dentistry, including when obtaining consent, dealing with complaints, and to restore your name to the register in the future. The process is not straightforward.
raising concerns when patients are at risk
For example - communication skills, consent, complaints handling, raising • If you have been off the register for less than one year and your five-year CPD
concerns, and safeguarding cycle has not ended during this time, you will not need to provide evidence of
your CPD when you restore
B Effective management of self, and effective management of others or effective • If you have been off the register for more than one year and your five-year CPD
work with others in the dental team, in the interests of patients, and providing cycle has not ended during this time, you will need to provide documentary
constructive leadership where appropriate evidence of hours of CPD for each complete year of the cycle that has elapsed
For example - effective practice management, business management, team since it began
working, and leadership skills • If you have been off the register for any period of time and your five-year CPD
cycle ended during your period off the register, you will need to provide
C Maintenance and development of knowledge and skill within your field of documentary evidence of your CPD hours completed while off the register.
practice These hours must have been undertaken during the five-year period
For example - clinical and technical areas of study, radiography, infection immediately preceding the date of your application.
control, medical emergencies and CPR, emerging technologies and treatments
If you are applying to restore before 2022, you will need to prove that you have
D Maintenance of skills, behaviours and attitudes which maintain patient complied with the transitional arrangements that may apply. Depending on the
confidence in you and the dental profession and put patients’ interests first time of planned absence, you might find it preferable to remain on the register
For example - ethical and legal issues and developments, professional (despite the costs involved).
behaviours, and equality and diversity training.
CPD abroad
CPD undertaken in another country is likely to contribute to your CPD record if it
complies with the requirements for verifiable CPD. It might, however, be more
difficult to ensure overseas providers meet the quality assurance requirements.

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 Providing in-house CPD Risk management tips
Many practice owners provide in-house training that contributes towards the • Use patient complaints and feedback, alongside errors and incidents to identify
verifiable CPD requirements of team members. With the introduction of ECPD, you and develop meaningful CPD for you and your team
will need to follow the GDC’s guidance for providers if you wish to continue providing • Practice meetings provide an opportunity to discuss procedures or protocols
in-house CPD to your team. that require improvement or where gaps in knowledge have been identified
• The BDA Library can provide information on a range of clinical issues
For CPD to be verifiable, you will need to show on any certificate that you provide:

• The subject, learning content, and aims and objectives of the CPD activity
• The anticipated GDC development outcomes (the activity must be linked to at
least one outcome)
• The date(s) of the CPD activity and the total number of hours
• The name of the dental professional who participated in the activity and their
GDC registration number
• A declaration that the CPD activity is quality assured
• Confirmation that that the information is accurate.

You must have systems in place that allow you to credit the participation of
individual team members for the number of hours they attended. If, for example,
your course lasted two hours but one team member could only attend for 90
minutes, you should credit them with this amount and not the full two hours.

Participation in an activity is about ‘engagement’, so you will need to consider how

you will ensure adequate and meaningful participation when providing certificates
– for example, by answering questions or giving feedback and by reflecting on the
CPD activity. Evaluation and feedback can also be used as part of your quality
assurance process.

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