Continuing Professional Development (CPD) remains a cornerstone of professional practice for healthcare practitioners registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). As the regulatory landscape continues to evolve, practitioners need to stay informed to maintain compliance and ensure they continue delivering safe, ethical, and evidence-based care.

Here’s what you need to know about the latest HPCSA developments regarding CPD.

A Greater Focus on Continuous Compliance

The HPCSA has strengthened its approach to CPD by emphasizing ongoing compliance rather than viewing CPD as an annual administrative exercise. Practitioners are expected to maintain the required Continuing Education Units (CEUs) throughout the year and ensure that their records remain current. The Council has also enhanced its online self-service platform, making it easier for practitioners to upload supporting documentation, respond to audits, and manage their CPD records electronically.

The HPCSA has noticed a decline in CPD Compliance during 2026 and is in the process of starting 2026 CPD Audits to ensure compliance.

Understanding the Current CEU Requirements

For many professional boards, practitioners are required to obtain:

• 25 Clinical CEUs
• 5 Ethics, Human Rights or Health Law CEUs

Please note that CEU’s (Continuing Education Units) and CPD’s (Continuing Professional Development) or CPD points all refer to the same thing.

This equates to a total of 30 CEUs over a rolling 12-month period, although requirements differ slightly for some professional categories. Practitioners should always verify the specific requirements applicable to their registration category.

The ethics component continues to receive particular attention, reflecting the growing importance of ethical decision-making, patient rights, professional conduct, and emerging issues such as digital healthcare and artificial intelligence.

CPD Remains a Legal and Professional Obligation

CPD is not simply about collecting points. It is a statutory requirement under the Health Professions Act and forms part of every practitioner’s professional responsibility.

The purpose of CPD is to ensure healthcare professionals continue to:

• Keep their clinical knowledge up to date by keeping abreast of the latest research and developments.
• Develop new skills.
• Improve patient outcomes.
• Practice ethically and responsibly.
• Adapt to advances in healthcare, technology, and legislation.

Regular participation in accredited CPD activities demonstrates a commitment to lifelong learning and high standards of patient care.

Online Learning Continues to Grow

One of the biggest trends in recent years has been the widespread adoption of online CPD. Accredited webinars, virtual conferences, online courses and article packages have become convenient options for busy healthcare professionals.

These digital learning opportunities allow practitioners to earn accredited CEUs without extensive travel or time away from clinical practice, making compliance more accessible than ever.

However, it is important to use reputable service providers and to ensure that their current courses are in fact accredited for 2026 and not for previous years (as the HPCSA will not accept the latter). The course accreditation number has to include the current year, e.g. PSB002/070/01/2026.  If the current year is not included, the accreditation is no longer valid and the HPCSA will not accept the points.

Keep Your HPCSA Profile Up to Date

The HPCSA encourages practitioners to regularly log into the online practitioner portal to:

• Monitor their CPD status.
• Update personal and practice details.
• Respond promptly to CPD audit requests.
• Verify that completed activities have been correctly recorded.

Maintaining accurate records can help prevent unnecessary delays or complications should your CPD compliance be reviewed.

Looking Ahead

Healthcare is evolving rapidly. Advances in technology, changing patient expectations, artificial intelligence, telehealth, and updated ethical guidance all reinforce the need for continuous professional learning.

Rather than viewing CPD as a regulatory obligation, practitioners should see it as an investment in professional excellence and patient safety.

Those who consistently engage in high-quality CPD are better equipped to provide evidence-based care, navigate ethical challenges, and remain competitive in an increasingly dynamic healthcare environment.

Final Thoughts

The HPCSA’s current direction is clear: CPD compliance is still compulsory and CPD is becoming increasingly integrated into everyday professional practice. By planning ahead, completing accredited learning throughout the year, and regularly monitoring your compliance status, practitioners can avoid last-minute pressure while ensuring they remain in good standing with the Council.

Professional development is more than maintaining registration—it is about maintaining excellence.

Note: This article reflects current HPCSA guidance available at the time of writing, including the Council’s emphasis on ongoing CPD compliance, the use of its online practitioner portal, and the current CEU requirements published for many professional boards. Practitioners should always confirm the requirements applicable to their own registration category using the official HPCSA resources. HPCSA CPD page (hpcsa.co.za)

The HPCSA reviews and amends their CPD requirements and processes on a regular basis.  A few changes have been made since the beginning of 2025.

Since October 2021, the HPCSA has slightly amended the process of submission of evidence of CPD submissions in effort to improve efficiency of the process.

The HPCSA reviews and amends their CPD requirements and processes on a regular basis. A few changes have been made since the beginning of 2022.  I realise that the changes are worrying as practitioners are worried about non-compliance, so I thought to take a few minutes just to go through the major changes from 2022 to date.

Submission of points and issuing of certificates:

Firstly, since February 2022, CPD providers are required to submit CPD points on practitioner’s behalf. All evidence obtained from approved local CPD providers from 1 March 2022 to date, will be submitted automatically by the service provider to Council.

Providers are requested to submit points on a regular basis and we, at NextCPD, submit points at the end of each month. This implies that your points will be uploaded at the end of the month in which you complete a specific package or course. Providers submit points using an HPCSA template for point submission. Once submitted, the HPCSA uploads these points on their side. Once uploaded the HPCSA will inform both the provider and practitioner of the successful upload.

This was introduced to reduce the administration burden on practitioners. Practitioners are no longer required to submit/upload certificates to the HPCSA, as it was the practice, except if such was obtained from an unaccredited provider or it is level 2 activities (which does not require prior accreditation). As such, mandatory issuance of CPD certificates is obsolete and the HPCSA requested providers to no longer issue certificates as it creates confusion / attempt to load points more than once.

Practitioners can still upload evidence of CPD compliance obtained prior to 1 March 2023 onto the HPCSA’s portal for validation. Anything not approved, but recognised in terms of CPD guidelines, can still be uploaded for validation.

Compliance, audits and timelines:

The practice of random sampling of practitioners from the HPCSA database, to verify compliance to CPD requirements, was discontinued. All practitioners are expected to be compliant at all times.

There is no timeline for compliance, as it is a continuous programme and practitioners shall be compliant at all times. All evidence of CPD compliance is valid for 24 months and compliance is determined on a 24 month basis. If you are non-compliant, the HPCSA expects the practitioner to immediately rectify the situation.

So what does the 24 month basis imply in practice?

You need 30 points per year which should include at least 5 ethics points. Points have a 2 year ‘shelf-life’ which implies that, should you do more than the required 30 points (including at least 5 ethics points) in any given year, you can use the points over and above the required 30 towards the 30 required for the next year. In other words, if you did 40 points in 2021, then 10 of those points can be carried over to 2022. Further to this, remember that you are required to do 30 points (including at least 5 ethics points) every year. You should in other words have 60 points including at least 10 ethics points for a two year (24 month) period. I mention this as many practitioners are currently receiving messages from the HPCSA indicating that they are not compliant and the reason is that the HPCSA now requires you to be compliant for 2 years at any given moment in time. You therefore need 60 active / valid points (including 10 ethics points) at all times (hence the 60 points, including 10 ethic points, indicated as required on your online HPCSA profiles).

I hope this somewhat clarifies the major changes since the beginning 2022. You are welcome to contact me if you need further clarification and, where I am unable to assist, we will try our utmost to get your query clarified by the HPCSA.