CPD

With the oncoming need for CPD for state registration, how do you get people motivated in actually doing CPD? CPD materials are readily available at my workplace, in electronic and paper formats, but still seem not to be used.

Should the emphasis be on the employer to push people to do it? I feel that this approach isn’t really sorting anything out. With the current doom and gloom within the NHS, the last thing we need is a boss who is seen as forcing people to something on top of their existing duties. On the other hand, I don’t think people should be forced to go it alone. I think a reasonable approach is somewhere in between. Maybe at staff appraisal time the manager and individual can arranged a set of CPD objectives for the year, e.g. a number of JBL’s, attendance at conference X and some activity involving some research, an essay or presentation.

The manager could then agree who the lab is going to assist the individual in obtaining these goals e.g. provision of journals, funding for x number of people for conferences and study periods. I think the major sticking point will be the degree of lab support. With some labs struggling to cope with current workload, the strain of having to cope with reduced staff numbers because they are studying will only increase.

But the bigger picture must be seen. If we don’t embark on a widespread CPD setup within each laboratory, we are storing up problems for it comes to re-registration. The first year may involve some compromises to assist in the begining but there will come a time when an individual will not be allowed to do their job because of the lack of CPD. This will hurt employers as well as employees. We must work together to help ourselves.