Continuing Professional Development (CPD) guidance for LLP users

CPD functionality was fully launched into the LLP in November 2019. Replacing the former CPD Online Diary, a number of new enhancements are available in the LLP whilst the main output – the CPD activity report to satisfy this supporting information requirement for revalidation – is still available.

The CPD functionality is available to all non-trainee subscribing members of the College (who have the role type of CPD Learner in the LLP) and this guidance details the main functions available.

1. Add and reflect upon a CPD personal activity

To add and reflect upon a CPD personal activity (such as doing some e-Learning), click on “CPD Activities” from the dashboard and then “Create”. Fill out the mandatory fields such as the title, activity type (select an option from the range in the dropdown list), start date, the number of CPD credits claimed and whether these were internal, external or virtual.

You can also choose to map your personal activity against the Good Medical Practice Domains, the Good Medical Educator Domains and/or CPD Skills, which have replaced what was formerly the CPD Matrix.

Once this screen has been completed you can either select “Save changes and return to dashboard” if you want to add your reflection later on, or “Save activity and add reflection” to do this now. Selecting this option will present with a new screen where you can add your reflection in the “Review” box”.

If you are adding your reflection at a later date, or if you wish to edit the reflection which you have recently added, from the dashboard click on “CPD Activities” and then click on the appropriate reflection.

2. Add and reflect upon a CPD personal activity directly from the “Document Store”

You can use the “Document Store” from the dashboard to upload key documents such as a copy of your CV. However you can also use it to directly create a CPD personal activity. By clicking on “Upload new document” and following the required steps, you can next click on “Create new CPD Activity”. This is particularly useful if, for example, you are adding an attendance certificate from an event you have attended or a pass certificate for some online learning with BJA Education online.

3. Search for and add a CPD-accredited event

The RCoA receives many applications each year for CPD event accreditation. By searching for an event which either you have already attended or which you plan on attending in the future you can save a lot of time and duplication of effort by not needing to manually input information which is already there.

To search for a CPD-accredited event, click on the “CPD Events” option and this will generate a new screen with a variety of search criteria including the event title, date range and any Good Medical Practice Domains and CPD Skills which the event has been mapped against.

You can search by using single any or by a range of these criteria and when you click on “Filter CPD Events” you will be presented with a list of matching events. You can then review the event information in detail by clicking on “View more details” and this will include the nominated contact details if the event is in the future. Please note that the LLP does not directly link to any event providers and so you will need to make the booking separately.

You can then click on “Attend this event” to add it into your LLP account and the home screen will show you either that the event is upcoming or that this is a past CPD event that requires action – i.e. your reflection is required (see Section 4).

4. Reflect upon a CPD-accredited event which you have added into your account

Click on “CPD Activities” and then “Create”. You will see that the first prompt says “This does not relate to a CPD Event” and by clicking on “Associate with a CPD Event” you will be presented with a list of all events you have marked as attending by following Section 3. When you click on the “Associate” link next to the appropriate event some options will be available to you:

• If during the CPD-accreditation process the event provider mapped their event to any of the Good Medical Practice Domains, the Good Medical Educator Domains and/or CPD Skills, these will appear at the top of the page. By clicking on “Associate… with this CPD Activity” this will automatically populate your CPD activity with the appropriate information. You can still edit this information – e.g. you can add/remove some of the CPD Skills which have populated this page based on what was actually covered during the event.
• The top of the screen also shows how many CPD credits the event was accredited for (typically 5 CPD credits per day) although you can manually enter how many you are actually claiming. For example, if it was a three-day event attracting a total of 15 CPD credits but you only attended the first two days, you can adjust this amount to 10 CPD credits.
• Once you have set up your CPD activity and associated it with a CPD-accredited event you can start to add real-time reflection by using the edit option detailed in Section 5 whilst the event is ongoing. This is an enhancement on the former system where reflection could only get added at the event conclusion.
• Based on user feedback you can add more than one CPD activity associated with a CPD-accredited event – e.g. if you are participating in the event both as an attendee and delivering a session as a member of the faculty, or if you do some additional reading around the subject matter afterwards. Where more than one CPD activity is added in this way, you can differentiate in the title field – e.g. by adding: “RCoA Airway workshop – reflection as a delegate”.

5. Duplicate and reflect upon a recurring CPD activity

Based on user feedback you can now easily duplicate a recurring CPD activity – e.g. a series of local clinical governance meetings. To do this, click on “CPD Activities” and then click on the title of the CPD activity which you wish to duplicate.

When you click on “Duplicate this activity” you will see that any of the Good Medical Practice Domains, the Good Medical Educator Domains and/or CPD Skills which had previously been added will also get populated here – although these can still be edited. Also populated here although editable will be the title, activity type, number of CPD credits and credits type previously added. You will need to add the date(s) and “Details” box and then to add your reflection.

Note: The underlying principle for claiming CPD credits is that it should be from activities that will result in some new educational benefit or learning (personal to the doctor). Claiming CPD credits for any appropriate activity in the first instance is justifiable, but repeated claiming of CPD credits for the same activity is not justified if no new learning/educational benefit has been gained

6. Generate your CPD activity report for revalidation purposes

The former CPD Online Diary required users to set their “Cycle 1 start date” upon initial registration which could not subsequently get changed. However, CPD functionality within the LLP allows for a fully customisable activity report to get generated.

To do this, click on “CPD Activity Report” and then enter the start and end dates for which you would like this to get populated – the range can be anything from one month to the five years of a revalidation cycle (once your CPD has been populated into the LLP in this way) and beyond. Now click on “Filter CPD Activity Report” and everything you have added within the specified date range will appear on screen and can also get produced in PDF format.

The LLP has not been designed so that appraisers can have access to a CPD Learner’s account to view their CPD records on-screen, but the PDF version of the activity report can be emailed to the appraiser in advance or shown to them during the appraisal meeting.

7. Add a special circumstance for your CPD activity report

By clicking on the “Special Circumstances” option from dashboard you can add a special circumstance such as maternity/paternity leave which has resulted in a break from practice. This will appear in the CPD activity report detailed in Section 6 to explain to your appraiser why there might have been a gap in your participation in CPD.