The HPCSA reviews and amends their CPD requirements and processes on a regular basis. A few changes have been made since the beginning of 2022. We realise that the changes are worrying as practitioners are worried about non-compliance.
Herewith a short summary of major changes from 2022 to date.
Submission of points and issuing of certificates:
Firstly, since February 2022, CPD providers have been required to submit CPD points on practitioners’ behalf. All evidence obtained from approved local CPD providers from 1 March 2022 to date, will be submitted automatically by the service provider to Council.
Providers are requested to submit points regularly and ConsultUS (Pty) Ltd submit points at the end of each month. This implies that your points will be uploaded at the end of the month in which you complete a specific article/module. Providers submit points using an HPCSA template for point submission. Once submitted, the HPCSA uploads these points on their side. Once uploaded the HPCSA will inform both the provider and practitioner of the successful upload.
This was introduced to reduce the administration burden on practitioners. Practitioners are no longer required to submit/upload certificates to the HPCSA, as it was the practice, except if such was obtained from an unaccredited provider or it is level 2 activities (which does not require prior accreditation). As such, mandatory issuance of CPD certificates is obsolete and the HPCSA requested providers to no longer issue certificates as it creates confusion / attempt to load points more than once.
Practitioners can still upload evidence of CPD compliance obtained prior to 1 March 2023 onto the HPCSA’s portal for validation. Anything not approved, but recognised in terms of CPD guidelines, can still be uploaded for validation.
Compliance, audits and timelines:
The practice of random sampling of practitioners from the HPCSA database, to verify compliance to CPD requirements, was discontinued. All practitioners are expected to be compliant at all times.
There is no timeline for compliance, as it is a continuous programme and practitioners shall be compliant at all times. All evidence of CPD compliance is valid for 12 months only and compliance is determined on a 12 month basis. If you are non-compliant, the HPCSA expects the practitioner to immediately rectify the situation.
What does the 12 month basis imply in practice?
You need 30 points per year which should include at least 5 ethics points.
Previously, acquired CEU points were valid for 24 months. With the revision of the CPD Rules and guidelines, practitioners are allowed to acquire a reduced number of CEU points, but valid over a period of 12 months as outlined below.
Points have a 1 year “shelf-life only.