The Faculty of Clinical Informatics offers a CPD Accreditation service for clinical informatics training courses and conferences. All health and social care professionals are required to undertake continuing professional development as a way of keeping up to date with new knowledge, techniques and developments related to their practice.

The Faculty has developed a process for CPD accreditation:

  • To support continuing professional development of health and social care professionals who want to broaden their knowledge of clinical informatics by ensuring that the learning resources meet an appropriate standard.
  • To help educational providers improve the standards of their educational resources by providing feedback on applications for accreditation that do not meet the grade.
  • To provide a rapid signpost for members and other interested parties that the training meets FCI standards.

Scope

The FCI offers CPD accreditation for clinical informatics learning resources covering all health and social care disciplines. This includes:

  • Virtual (e-learning) and face-to-face training (including blended courses)
  • Educational events, including sessions in conferences with educational content
  • Other learning resources, such as specific articles in journals and books, with educational content.

This excludes:

  • Undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and courses leading to a professional qualification. However, clinical informatics modules included as part of a wider postgraduate clinical programme are in scope
  • Internal activities (ie local educational activities with colleagues from the same organisation)
  • Business meetings, annual general meetings and prize-givings
  • Personal learning activities
  • Apps and clinical decision support systems.

International activities may be considered on a case by case basis. They must be aimed at UK health and care professionals and are relevant to Faculty members.

CPD Accreditation

Accreditation is carried out within the framework defined by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges’ (AoMRC) Standards and Criteria for CPD Activities. This document sets clear and explicit generic criteria, which are relevant to any type of learning resource, including criteria relating to:

  • Appropriateness and relevance of content to the intended audience
  • Clarity of learning aims and evaluation of training
  • Quality of content
  • Qualifications and experience of teaching staff
  • Appropriateness of delivery methods
  • Lack of commercial bias or influence
  • Competence of the author/training provider
  • Compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements

CPD Accreditation process

Please e-mail [email protected] and one of our team members will be in contact to discuss and support you through our CPD Accreditation process.

FCI review

First, the FCI team will check your application to ensure it is completed correctly. Next, it is passed to the clinical lead for an initial review to ensure it is fit to assess. The clinical lead will also advise on who would make an appropriate Assessor for the application.

Assessment

  • The FCI team will advise applicant of charge for assessment.
  • The application form is then passed to a panel member of FCI Assessors.
  • The Assessor will review, record feedback and prepare a response.
  • This information is sent to FCI staff who respond to applicant.

Application outcome

Applications may be: approved, approved subject to minor changes/clarifications or refused.

Where changes or clarifications are required, further communication will take place between the Assessor and applicant. Where applications are refused, the reasons given by the Assessor will be communicated to the applicant.

Approved courses

When an application is accepted, the course is FCI ‘Kitemarked’ (this means you are able to use the FCI logo). We will also list the course on our website.

Accreditation costs

The Faculty seeks to recover costs of:

  • Assessors
  • Clinical lead
  • Administrative time in the assessment of the course.

A quotation will be provided on submission on the application, but an indicative cost for accreditation of a single course is £300.