development of their clinical skills which, for some at least, has led to them falling into management roles without the necessary development rather than following a career plan into management thus adding a further level of complexity about CPD being a straightforward activity to engage with.It is perhaps the absence of a "thought through" approach in which the requirements for CPD to meet an organisational based role related to management, with its requirements for management development rather than a CPD approach focussed on mandatory professional training to remain registered or certified, which provides the greatest challenge.The article is organised as follows. First we offer definition and a clarification for the term CPD and its variations. This is followed by a discussion about the NHS and its relationship with and expectation for CPD in terms of policy development. A description of method is followed by presentation of CPD related outcomes from a larger survey of NHS front line staff. This data is then discussed from the perspective of 19 in depth follow up interviews the purpose of which was to explore the attitudes of this key group of employees to the provision of and for CPD in the NHS Trust in which they were employed.