How CPDme is simplifying professional development for the frontline

Continuous learning is part of the job for any emergency services professional. But finding the time to record it, and keeping that record up to date, often slips down the list of priorities. That’s the gap CPDme was designed to fill, explained founder and director Andrew Ormerod, speaking at this year’s Emergency Services Show.

The idea for CPDme came directly from the frontline. “About 20 years ago, I was working on an ambulance station with some very experienced practitioners who had been called for audit by the Healthcare Professions Council,” Andrew recalled. “They sent off what I can best describe as shoe boxes full of CPD, and those came back with a note saying, ‘please try again’.”

Helping those colleagues put their portfolios in order revealed a wider issue. “These were brilliant clinicians,” he said, “but they struggled to evidence their learning in the way the regulator required.” All three passed their audits, but the experience led Andrew to look for a simpler way for professionals to record their development that would work for people with little time and even less patience for paperwork.

At its core, CPDme helps individuals and organisations record, reflect and report on their continuous professional development. But Andrew is clear that this isn’t about compliance alone. “What evidence suggests from my research,” he said, “is that we’re not very good at keeping an accurate and ongoing record, even though the accountability ultimately sits with us as individuals.”

He pointed out that requests for CPD evidence often come not from regulators but from investigations or legal teams. “Somebody else will ask for your portfolio before the HCPC does,” he said. “And at that point, you want to be able to show that you’ve maintained your learning and reflected on your practice.”

The practical challenge, however, remains time. After a 12- or 14-hour shift, few practitioners have the energy to type up reflections or upload certificates. “Recording CPD has to be quick and simple,” Andrew said. “Ideally, it should happen right after the learning takes place, otherwise the details fade, and it becomes another admin task we put off.”

The CPDme app aims to make that process as straightforward as possible. Users can log an entry in minutes, attach photos or documents, and link it to the HCPC’s four CPD standards. “That screenshot of a slide from a conference can be liquid gold in your portfolio,” Andrew noted.

Since its early days as a tool for individual practitioners, CPDme has grown into an enterprise platform now used by ambulance services, police forces and healthcare providers. “A lot of organisations came to us with systems that were old and difficult to use,” Andrew said. “We developed something app-based, faster and formatted around their specific standards.”

Among the adopters is London Ambulance Service, which worked with CPDme to build a CPD Resilience system aligned with NHS England’s new occupational standards. It enables commanders to track learning, identify development needs and maintain an auditable record of training.

Another recent development is instant digital certification at major events. Partnering with The Emergency Services Show and other Nineteen Group events, CPDme introduced QR codes across stages. Attendees can scan a code to automatically receive a certificate and log their learning. “It lands in your inbox and, if you’re using CPDme, directly into your record,” Andrew said. “All you need to add is a short reflection on what you learned and how it might change your practice.”

Andrew’s message to professionals is to make reflection routine. “If you learn it, log it – and do it as soon as possible,” he said. Keeping a running record, whether on an app or in notes, protects both practitioners and the people they serve.

Looking ahead, CPDme’s reach is expanding internationally. “We’ve been invited to Australia because several government departments have been using our app and want to build a national CPD framework,” Andrew said. What began with a few paramedics and a pile of shoeboxes is now helping shape how professionals around the world capture and evidence their learning.

Watch the full interview below.

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