DOCTOR'S CORNER

The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has amended aspects of its policy on Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme, below are the amendments: -

(Source HPCSA website)

• The process of randomly selecting practitioners from the HPCSA’s database to verify compliance has been discontinued. All registered practitioners a now be expected to comply with the set CPD requirements on a continuous basis.

• The online self-service platform is available on the HPCSA’s website to all registered health practitioners to submit enquiries and/or upload the required evidence of CPD compliance. Registered health practitioners can also view their CPD status online. The link below provides a step-by-step procedure on how to access the online portal: - https://www.hpcsa.co.za/Uploads/Professional_Practice/CPD/2021/CPD_Manual_for_Practitioners_2021.pdf.

• The HPCSA has approved that authorised facilitators and providers of CPD programmes to submit the attendance registers directly to the HPCSA in order to update the practitioner’s CPD profile. This has been effectively commenced for some professional boards, as implemented on 1 February 2022, while the rest of the CPD providers and facilitators agreed to commence their submission effectively on 1 March 2022.

• The issuance of Continuous Education Unit (CEUs) certificates is no longer mandatory requirements, as the information will be provided directly to the HPCSA by the approved facilitators and providers of the CPD activities.

• The online portal will remain active in order to cater for the exceptions, that is the activities not accredited by local providers, but recognised for CPD purposes, for example, when submitting certificate from international provider.

• Registered health practitioners will receive a notification, at their nominated contact, of any CPD profile updates done. Please contact the HPCSA should such notification not be received within a week of attending the CPD activity or if the CPD status is not updated according to activities attended.
  
  The full document of this information can be downloaded using the button below.