Continuing professional development: policy and practice in the National Health Service (NHS)

Abstract

For professional disciplines, continuing professional development (CPD) is subject to policy initiatives, serving either to facilitate or to constrain CPD opportunities. This paper focuses on the relationship between the physiotherapy profession and management and government in relation to CPD. This research utilized qualitative methods to explore practitioners' perceptions and experiences of policy in relation to post-qualifying learning. Here, learning activities were seen as important in maintaining employability in a competitive workplace and fulfilling managerial and government agendas. Additionally, how policy affected the individual was partially explained by the implementation of CPD and re-registration policies without clear frameworks from the government and professional body. Practitioners therefore negotiated their own position within organizations, leaving managers in a powerful position and the physiotherapy workforce relatively compliant to their demands. For physiotherapy, this may mean that theoretical and practical innovations will be suppressed, the professional knowledge base will not be developed, and autonomy will be challenged.

Physical Therapists' Views and Experiences of Pregnancy-Related Low Back Pain and the Role of Acupuncture: Qualitative Exploration

“…15 Additionally, physical therapists are required to act within scope of practice yet fulfill a duty of care to service users; understanding a condition -be it pregnancy-related LBP or any other condition -and how it influences management is therefore a professional responsibility. 33,34 The findings of this study suggest that both personal concerns and the professional fear of litigation threaten this practice.…”

Career Progression of Equality and Diversity Professionals in U.K. National Health Service Organizations: A Knowledge Review

“…Moreover, the drive for competition in service provision may, in itself, create inter‐ and intraprofessional rivalries. Waterfield () suggests that professional regulation concerns guaranteeing competence, but service provision based on a market philosophy may do just the opposite. If practitioners title themselves by tasks they perform, and not by profession, as a result of opening up choice for consumers of medical services, then inter‐ and intraprofessional rivalries will be damaged.…”

Physical therapy and a public health ethics perspective

“…Furthermore, it has been argued that physical therapists should see themselves as the creators, not just the recipients, of policy in health care. 30 The decision to engage in the political field is an ethical issue, but so is the way in which such engagement is performed. Could a perception of professional endorsement of a policy be inappropriately generalized to a broader category of policies?…”