Completing your CPD cycle: communication and consent

This is the final in a series of three blogs in which Stacey shares some of the most frequent questions osteopaths are asking when completing key components of the CPD scheme.

Most osteopaths have already undertaken a communication and consent-based activity (the figure was 75% at the time of the 2020-21 CPD evaluation survey). However, as many of you finalise your CPD records and complete your Peer Discussion Review template, you may be wondering ‘does this particular CPD activity count as communication and consent, and if it doesn’t, what alternative activity can I do instead?’

The first thing I would suggest is to think about what you did for your objective activity, because this might also count as your communication and consent activity.

For example, a case-based discussion or peer observation (observing a colleague in practice) can meet both your objective activity and your communication and consent-based activity, if the discussion or observation covered any of theme A: Communication and patient partnership of the Osteopathic Practice Standards (OPS), in particular standard A4.

More suggestions for communication and consent activities

You might want to review the OPS and, in particular, revisit standards A3 and A4. These requirements are about providing patients with the information they need in order to make informed choices about their care; creating a partnership based on good communication and trust.

You might find it useful to get together with a number of other osteopaths and form a study group. You could download and read a few articles, then get together and talk about them and work through any questions and areas for development as a group.

There are many sources of articles which you might like to discuss with other osteopaths, for example, on the NCOR website and in journals such as IJOM, which you can access for free via the o zone.

The sorts of resources you could discuss as a communication and consent activity might include those that cover not feeling comfortable in communicating risks to patients for fear of causing them to be afraid, in which case the two resources listed below might be useful as a starting point:

• NCOR: How can I explain risks to my patients without frightening them?
• GMC: Shared decision making and consent

Another option is to look at how to improve or enhance your case history by reviewing how you record consent from your patients. You could conduct a clinical audit on your case notes to understand this, for example by using the clinical audit handbook and clinical audit tool from NCOR.

If you are still stuck for ideas on what counts as a communication and consent activity we have further information, including a whole Communication and Consent workbook, available on this CPD website.

I hope this, and the other two blogs I have written, have been helpful in offering some useful suggestions as you near completion of your CPD cycle. If you have further questions or topics that you would like us to cover in future blogs, please let us know via email at info@osteopathy.org.uk

Good luck everyone with your CPD!

You can read Stacey’s other two blogs using the links below:

• Completing your CPD cycle: objective activity
• Completing your CPD cycle: linking to the Osteopathic Practice Standards

You can also take a look at the page on this CPD website dedicated to supporting osteopaths who are approaching the end of their three-year CPD cycle.