Registrar’s Update March 2019

CPD Audit and webinar

We are now approaching the time of year when we carry out the CPD audit. Those who have been selected for audit have now been informed and I would therefore urge everyone to fully engage with the process and get in touch if there are any issues. The RCT has some very useful information on our website here. Please spend some time reading the information as it is there to help you. There are some anonymised submissions from previous CPD audits for information: however, we hope that you are recording your CPD as it has been happening throughout the year.

All submissions must be via the mycareerpath website, as previously mentioned (and see below). For those preparing for audit, there will be a special webinar to help you on Monday 18^th March at 13.30 – to register click here.

At the end of January this year, 132 registrants were lapsed for non-payment of their renewal fees.  This is around 5 percent of registrants.  In the weeks that followed, IPEM staff took around 30 calls from registrants who had not intended to lapse their registration.  Some of these registrants had received all of our email communications but kept getting waylaid by their day-to-day lives and their payment was not made by the deadline.  Other registrants advised they did not receive our emails, despite IPEM not receiving bounce-back messages from their accounts.  The result for these registrants was the same.  There is no process allowed under RCT policy and procedure to reinstate registrants for non-payment unless they have been away from work due to illness since prior to renewal notifications being sent out until after the deadline.  This must be confirmed by a line manager or a head of department.  Unfortunately for these 132 registrants, the only way back on to the Register is to reapply and for some, that means completing an equivalence application with a portfolio because they were grandfathered onto the Register many years ago.

As a result of this, the RCT Management Board has made the decision to introduce mandatory payment by direct debit for renewal fees for all registrants in the UK.  This will become the only way to pay from December 2020 for renewals due on 1 January 2021.  However, we would urge you to complete and return a direct debit mandate now in preparation for renewals due on 1 January 2020.  You may think that forgetting to pay your renewal fees would never happen to you and you may think that your workplace IT server will allow all emails from us through to you, however, it is clear from the number of calls received that this can happen to anyone and the RCT Management Board wish to do everything they can to ensure that registrants aren’t lapsed due to non-payment and then have to go through the time and effort of a re-application, not to mention the cost that incurs.

We sincerely hope you will take up the offer to get your direct debit in place well in advance of the next renewal cycle.  You can pay in 1 annual payment in January or have the amount due split into 12 monthly payments.

Please use this link to access the direct debit application form – no payments will be taken until January 2020.

There are times when your work location may change. It is important to remember that it is your responsibility, as a registrant, to keep your details up to date on the register. Check the online register to ensure your details are correct and if something has changed, send us an email with your new details, so that we can update the register.

The RCT Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) wants to help all Registrants to work within the Code of Professional Conduct of the RCT, in order to protect the safety of patients and the public. So, we identify the learning points from all Fitness to Practise cases that come before PCC Panels and make these available through the RCT website and the Registrar’s Update. For learning from the latest cases, please click here. On the website you can also read the outcomes of cases and find out about hearings coming up.

The Policy on Removal from and Restoration to the RCT has been updated by the RCT Management Board with the introduction of a new registration status category of ‘Inactive’. Any registrant who was previously marked as De-Registered, but left the register in good standing, is now marked as Inactive. Only those who have left the register for negative reasons – i.e. due to non-payment of the renewal fee, removed for failing the CPD audit or for conduct issues, will now be marked as De-Registered.

We are delighted to inform members that we have chosen the mycareerpath® online professional development system, designed and managed by the Engineering Council, to plan, evidence and record professional development. The tool, which is compatible with smart phones, tablets, PCs and Macs, is accessed by logging on to the IPEM website, navigating to My IPEM and selecting the mycareerpath® tab from the left-hand menu.

The first time you access mycareerpath® from the IPEM website you will be asked to create an account which is primarily for the purpose of agreeing to GDPR. This only happens once and all subsequent times you click on mycareerpath® you will go straight into the system. When you logout of mycareerpath® you will be directed back to the IPEM website.

mycareerpath® can be used to plan, evidence and record CPD and can also be used to plan, evidence and record progress towards defined competency standards such as the requirements needed to meet the professional registrations of the Engineering Council (EngTech, IEng and CEng) and the Science Council (CSci, RSci and RSciTech) (If you are intending to apply for one of these registrations you need to be a member of a qualifying professional body, i.e. IPEM).

The mycareerpath® system allows you to:

Add profiles

CPD is the default profile and you begin to record your CPD by uploading information to the ‘Evidence’ tab. You can also use the ‘Plan’ tab to set out your CPD aspirations at the beginning of a year.

Self-assess progress

mycareerpath® enables you to self-assess your progress against the individual competencies within a chosen profile.

Create an action plan

mycareerpath® enables you create an action plan.

Record evidence

You can add evidence, including any supporting documentation like certificates, videos and testimonies, to demonstrate that you have developed or increased competence. You can add web links or upload supporting documents. These will remain attached as evidence and reviewers will be able to examine them.

Generate reports

You can generate reports for each profile over a specified period of time. A CPD report assembles a chronological list of all plans and evidence started during the period specified. The competence report assembles a list of plans and evidence from the profile selected that started during the period specified.

Send work for review

Plans, evidence, reports and competence profiles can all be sent for review to any email address. This allows you to demonstrate progress to colleagues, employers, mentors etc. Reviewers will receive an email inviting him/her to view the page in question and add comments. Once a comment is added, the link expires.

Export data to PDF

Plans, evidence and reports in mycareerpath® can be exported and saved in PDF format.

CPD audit 2019

mycareerpath® is being used for the IPEM and RCT annual audit in 2019. If you have been selected for audit for this round (you will already have been informed of this), we ask you to upload your CPD summary to mycareerpath®. Paper submissions are no longer accepted via email or post.

Even members who don’t use mycareerpath® for planning and recording CPD can upload an external CPD record into the system and submit it. It’s quicker and easier than attaching the record to an email.

CPD audit 2020 onwards

You will be able to use mycareerpath® to record your CPD activity in 2019 and seamlessly upload these records if you are selected for audit in 2020.

For further details on mycareerpath, please visit the IPEM website.

The RCT Registrar