Continuing Professional Development

Continuing Professional Development Stakeholder Consultation Report June 2016 Bord Clárchúcháin na dteiripeoirí Urlabhartha agus Teanga Speech and Language Therapists Registration Board

Contents Introduction... 2 About the Speech and Language Therapists Registration Board... 2 About CORU... 2 The Stakeholder Consultation Process... 2 Background... 2 Publicising the Consultation Process... 3 Overview of responses to consultation... 3 Acknowledgements... 3 Summary of results... 4 Clarity... 4 Threshold for safe practice... 4

Introduction About the Speech and Language Therapists Registration Board The Speech and Language Therapists Registration Board has statutory responsibility for the registration of members of the speech and language therapy profession; approval and monitoring of speech and language therapy education and training programmes; establishing the code of professional conduct and ethics and standards of performance to which speech and language therapist must adhere and recognition of qualifications gained outside the State. About CORU CORU is responsible for regulating health and social care professions. It comprises the Health and Social Care Professionals Council and the registration boards established under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended). CORU s role is to protect the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct, professional education, training and competence amongst the designated professions. The designated professions under the Act are social workers, clinical biochemists, dietitians, medical scientists, occupational therapists, orthoptists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, psychologists, radiographers, social care workers and speech and language therapists. The Stakeholder Consultation Process Background CPD is a core element of the new regulatory environment. Once registered a speech and language therapists must engage in CPD and meet the standard as specified in the Speech and Language Therapist Registration Board Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. The Speech and Language Therapist Registration Board sought feedback from stakeholders on its proposed Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements for registration. The Speech and Language Therapists Registration Board will introduce its specific CPD requirements in October 2016. From 31 October 2016 speech and language therapists will need to fulfill these requirements in order to comply with the CPD standard as set out in their Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. The stakeholder consultation on Continuing Professional Development: Requirements for speech and language therapists was held between 3 May 2016 and 3 June 2016.

Publicising the Consultation Process A number of channels were used to publicise the consultation process and invite the submission of observations. These included: An online survey was developed. An email with a link was sent to a targeted list of over 30 stakeholders, including the Professional Bodies, Trade Unions, educators and other interested parties who have previously corresponded with CORU An email was sent to all speech and language therapists who were fully registered at the time of issuing the email Information on the consultation along with a link to the online feedback form was hosted on the CORU website Overview of responses to consultation The questionnaire was sent to all speech and language therapists who are registered with CORU on and a selection of other stakeholders, including employers, education providers and representative groups. There were 70 responses to the online consultation form. 56 of the respondents were registrants, while 13 were not. Almost all respondents (67) were replying in a personal capacity. Only three respondents indicated responding on behalf of an organization and one did not furnish any further details. Submissions were received on behalf of the following professional organisations: Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists (IASLT) Trinity College Dublin Acknowledgements CORU would like to extend our appreciation and thanks to all those that participated in the consultation process. The report from the consultation process will be reviewed by the Speech and Language Therapists Registration Board and the outcomes will be reflected in the final requirements for speech and language therapists continuing professional development.

Summary of results Clarity Respondents were asked to indicate if they considered the proposed CPD Standard and Requirements to be clear and easy to understand Clarity No 26% Yes 74% Respondents provided additional comments to support their answer. The minority of respondents indicated that the document was too long and too wordy. Threshold for safe practice Respondents were asked to consider the main elements of the CPD Standard and Requirements: A registrant must engage in a range of CPD activities on an on-going basis A registrant must complete 60 CPD credits in each 24 month cycle A registrant must demonstrate that their CPD activities are relevant to their professional role and mindful of current and future practice. CPD should be based on a self-directed review of their knowledge, skills, performance and professional qualities in the context of their professional practice A registrant must maintain an up-to-date CPD portfolio A registrant must, on request from the Registration Board submit their CPD portfolio for audit Respondents were asked if these were appropriate for the maintenance of professional competence and set at the correct level.

Appropriateness Not threshold 13% Partly threshold 12% Consider threshold 75% A minority of respondents indicated that they felt 60 CPD credits over a 2 year period was unreasonable to be expected of professionals. These concerns mostly related to the cost of training and the ability to access and release from work to attend training. The IASLT supported the quantity of CPD credits required but felt that greater clarity could be afforded regarding the range of activities including a specification that registrants must engage in both structured and unstructured learning activities to satisfy the CPD requirements. The IASLT also recommended a more detailed list of suitable supporting evidence for inclusion in the CPD portfolio. Usefulness of resources A sample list of activities is available in the Framework CPD Standard and Requirements. Respondents were asked if this would be considered a useful resource to them as part of meeting the CPD requirements. Sample list of activities Not helpful 11% Helpful 89%

There was mild resistance to the concept of self-directed learning and the recognition of informal or unstructured learning activities. A template portfolio is provided to assist registrants in recording their CPD. Respondents were asked if this would be a useful support and resource. Not helpful 5% Template portfolio Helpful 95% A minority of respondents felt that the requirement to record CPD was onerous and would be too time consuming. Respondents indicated a preference for using other templates already available through professional bodies and workplaces. The IASLT welcome that registrants may choose to use a different portfolio to the one issued by CORU but would recommend guidance on what should be included in a portfolio. The IASLT also recommended including the requirement to reflect on all CPD activities, not just eight. Additional Comments Respondents were invited to provide any additional comments regarding the CPD Standard and Requirements they would like to make. A number of respondents expressed a positive attitude towards the introduction of CPD and felt the CPD Standard and Requirements sufficiently reflected the practice of CPD in the profession thus far. A minority of respondents expressed concern regarding the 60 CPD credit requirements applying to all professionals regardless of full or part time work. Concerns were expressed regarding the lack of funding and support available for professionals to attend formal training and that the requirement for recording CPD was too onerous and time consuming. Respondents indicated that CORU should introduce a CPD system that mirrors the professional body as it is profession specific

Executive Comment The Executive considered the feedback provided through the online survey and formulated a response which the Board will consider as part of their feedback. Overall interpretation of the results Generally, respondents expressed a positive attitude towards the CPD Standard and Requirements. The majority of respondents felt the document was clear and easy to understand and that more importantly, the requirements were appropriate. The resources developed to date will help the majority of respondents meet their requirements. Additional comment There is a requirement for all speech and language therapists on the register to meet the CPD Standard and Requirements. CPD has been introduced at CORU as mechanism to ensure the maintenance of competence of all registrants. Regardless of working part or full time, each registrant needs to be competent. For this reason, the CPD Standard and Requirements apply to all on the register with entitlement to use the professional title of speech and language therapist. The CPD Standard and Requirement implemented by CORU is a broad, flexible and varied model of learning whereby any activity that results in learning for the registrant that supports them in their professional role, can be recorded as a CPD activity. There is no requirement for registrants to attend any formal training to meet the CPD Standard and Requirements. The model places emphasis on reflective, experiential and work-based learning which incur no cost or requirement to be released from work. The CPD Standard and Requirement does not require registrants to choose both structured and unstructured learning activities to meet the CPD requirement. The requirement to undertake structured learning may be particularly onerous on part-time or locum workers as these activities typically incur costs. This cohort is most concerned about the CORU CPD Standards and Requirements so should be considered when placing additional requirements on the registrant. There will be a time implication associated with maintaining a CPD portfolio. However, in recognition of this, registrants can claim a maximum of 8 CPD credits for the maintenance of their portfolio a learning activity in itself. It is understandable that registrants would request for alignment of CORU and professional body processes. However as registration with CORU is mandatory and membership of a professional body is voluntary, it is important that CORU s CPD model is suitable for use with all members of the profession. CORU s remit extends beyond the regulation of speech and language therapists and the CPD model employed needs to be flexible for use across the professions. Profession specific tailoring should only be done when absolutely necessary. Registrants are welcome to use portfolios provided by other organisations however CORU do recommend the use of the CORU template to ensure they meet the requirements for audit. It is beyond CORU s remit to provide guidance on other templates and instead can only recommend that it reflects the CORU template as closely as possible.

It is not unusual to receive some feedback expressing resistance to the introduction of CORU s CPD model. It is the experience of the Executive that this can be managed through clear communication as part of the implementation plan. Conclusion The Framework CPD Standard and Requirements received generally positive feedback from respondents. There was no feedback indicating that profession specific tailoring was required to the main elements of the CPD Standard and Requirement to ensure it is appropriate for use with the profession.