Welcome to the Health and Social Care CPD hub. CPD – continuing professional development – is a term used to describe activity that contributes to professionals’ development of knowledge, skills and behaviours. It can include many different types of activity, including reading, engaging in structured learning, workplace shadowing, or undertaking research. For some people, CPD is a requirement of regulation with professional bodies, such as for nurses, social workers, social care workers and many allied health professionals.   

Who is this hub for? 

This hub is for anyone working in, or interested in, health and social care. This includes social care and social work practitioners, nurses and midwives, and allied health professionals. You will also find the resources useful if you are studying a programme related to health and social care or just want to find out more about the topics.  

How to use the hub 

We have collated courses, articles and activities from across OpenLearn that will be helpful for anyone looking for continuing professional development resources. You can use the filters on the left-hand side of the page to help narrow your search if you have a particular topic you are looking for. For example, if you work in public health, you can choose to filter the hub to show you resources particularly pertinent to your area of practice. You might also want to filter by a particular aspect of development at work, such as leadership and management or communication.   

Accredited and endorsed learning

Successfully finishing a course on OpenLearn will earn you a free statement of participation on completion. You can use this to provide evidence of your engagement with an online course, but these are not accredited courses.  

The 24-hour badged courses on OpenLearn, such as Leadership and Followership, Understanding Mental Capacity and Working in Teams are accredited by the Continuing Professional Development Standards Office (CPDSO). This means that the learning provides recognised CPD points that can be used to demonstrate professional development. On completion of these 24-hour badged courses, you will receive a free, printable, statement of participation as well as a digital badge. You will see the CPDSO accredited course logo and details on the course description page if a course offers accredited CPD points, like this:

You can use the filters on the left-hand side of the hub to find resources endorsed by the CPD Standards Office or the Carers Trust, making it easier to identify learning that meets your professional development needs.

Digital badges can be downloaded from your OpenLearn profile. They can be displayed on your social media or LinkedIn profile, and are a great way of demonstrating your interest and engagement with a particular topic.  

Let us know what you think! 

This hub will evolve over time as new resources are developed and added. If you have any ideas for particular subjects or resources you would like to see, please do get in touch with us and let us know. You can contact openlearn@open.ac.uk with any feedback or suggestions.