In short
Online CPD courses for paramedics count for HCPC CPD: the HCPC’s list of activities that count includes courses taken online or at a distance, it sets no hours or points, and asks for at least two different types of activity, so an online course belongs beside work-based CPD such as case reviews or reflection after a job. Choose the course from a standard of proficiency for paramedics you want to strengthen, or from the subject of an HCPC concern, and keep the certificate for your CPD profile. Our Probity & Ethics Ethics and Ethical Standards for HCPC Regulated Health and Care Professionals course is £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10) for 2 CPD hours, CPD accredited and certified by The CPD Certification Service.
Picked for a CPD audit?
The HCPC has asked for your CPD profile and you have about three months. You need activities from the last two years that show the five CPD standards, with evidence for each.
A complaint or an HCPC concern?
A complaint after a call-out, a trust investigation or a letter from the HCPC. You want CPD that matches the concern and shows the panel what you have changed.
What does HCPC CPD ask of paramedics?
Paramedics meet the same five HCPC standards for continuing professional development as every profession on the HCPC Register. In plain terms: keep an up-to-date record of your CPD; make it a mix of activities relevant to your current or future practice; make sure it improves your practice and benefits your patients; and, if asked, send a written profile showing how you met the standards. The HCPC does not set hours or points and does not approve or endorse any CPD activity, so no course is “HCPC approved”. What to keep as evidence for each activity is covered in our guide to HCPC CPD evidence and what counts.
Do online CPD courses for paramedics count for HCPC CPD?
Yes. The HCPC’s page on what activities count as CPD names courses, and courses taken online or at a distance, among its examples. The same page lists work-based activity that fits ambulance and urgent care practice: case studies, reflective practice, significant analysis of events, peer review, discussions with colleagues, and supervising staff or students.
The HCPC’s second CPD standard means carrying out at least two different types of activity, so a record made only of online courses would not meet it. A practical pattern for a paramedic is to pair each course with one piece of work-based CPD: take a course on consent and capacity, then write a reflection on a call where a patient declined conveyance, or discuss that call at a team debrief.
What are the best CPD courses for paramedics?
The best CPD course is the one that matches a standard of proficiency you want to strengthen. The HCPC’s standards of proficiency for paramedics, in effect from 1 September 2023, have fifteen standards; these are the ones our courses answer, with paramedic situations where each matters.
| Standard of proficiency for paramedics | Where it arises in paramedic practice | Course |
|---|---|---|
| 2.7 obtain valid consent; 2.8 the importance of capacity | A patient who refuses treatment or transport, or whose capacity is in doubt on scene | Privacy, Consent and Chaperone in Healthcare Practice |
| 9.1 keep full, clear and accurate records | The patient care record written after a call, the basis of any later review | Professionalism in Documentation |
| 6.1 the duty of confidentiality and when disclosure may be required | Information shared at a scene, with police or with family members | Ensuring Confidentiality in Healthcare Practice |
| 7.1 communicate effectively with service users | Explaining decisions to a frightened patient or relative under time pressure | Ensuring Effective Communication |
| 2.6 relationships based on mutual respect and trust; 2.11 the power imbalance | Contact with a patient or a colleague outside work, including on social media | Professional Boundaries for Clinicians |
| 4.1 personal responsibility for decisions; 1.1 the limits of practice | Discharge on scene, referral to another service, and when to seek advice | Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety |
| 2.12 the legislation governing the use of medicines by paramedics | Medicines given or supplied, and prescribing for paramedics with that annotation | Prescribing Guidance and Standards |
For the standards of conduct, performance and ethics as a whole, the ethics course and the professionalism course for HCPC registrants cover all ten standards and are the two that suit a paramedic who wants a single broad CPD activity.
How do you use a course in an HCPC CPD audit?
At the start of each renewal the HCPC selects 2.5 per cent of each profession at random, from registrants who have been registered for two years or more, and gives them about three months to send a CPD profile. The profile has four parts:
- a summary of your practice history, up to 500 words;
- a statement of how you have met the CPD standards, up to 1,500 words, for which the HCPC suggests choosing four to six activities;
- a dated list of all your CPD activities in the last two years;
- evidence that the activities you describe took place.
A course earns its place in the statement when you write what changed afterwards. For example: “After the consent and capacity course I changed how I record a refusal of conveyance: I now record the capacity assessment, the information given and the safety-netting advice in the patient care record, and my clinical team leader reviewed five of my records against that list.” The certificate and the reviewed records are the evidence. If the assessors find the profile does not meet the standards, they can give up to three more months; a profile that still does not meet them leads to removal from the Register.
CPD courses for paramedics after a complaint or HCPC concern
When a concern has been raised, the course to take is the one on the subject of the concern, completed with a written reflection that names the standard involved and what you have changed in your practice. That record serves twice: as part of your response to the HCPC and as CPD activity in your next profile. If the HCPC, a panel or your employer has named a course you must complete, see told by the HCPC to complete a course for the steps, and our course guide for HCPC registrants for every course matched to the standards of conduct, performance and ethics.
Please note
No course or CPD record can decide the result of an audit, a trust investigation or an HCPC fitness to practise case; the HCPC reaches its own decision on the facts. Where there is a complaint or concern, your union, professional body or a legal representative should see your reply before the HCPC does. Nothing here is legal advice; it is general information for paramedics.
Our CPD courses for paramedics and the Bulk Buy offer
Each course opens as soon as you buy it, runs online at your own pace between shifts, and ends with a certificate dated on completion that names the course and its CPD hours.
For paramedics and other HCPC registrants
Ethics and Ethical Standards for HCPC Regulated Health and Care Professionals
The ten standards of conduct, performance and ethics applied to practice on the HCPC Register, closing with insight, reflection and remediation, so the certificate supports a CPD profile or a response to an HCPC concern. Probity & Ethics is CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197).
- £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10)
- 2 CPD hours
- Certificate on completion
Courses for the standards of proficiency
Bulk Buy suits a station or a team buying together: 3 courses for £200, 5 for £300 or 10 for £500. Not sure where to start? Use which course do I need or book a free call.
Guides that help
This guide is part of our Professional Misconduct hub, which brings together every Probity & Ethics guide and course on the subject.
The CPD courses linked from this guide, Ethics and Ethical Standards for HCPC Regulated Health & Care Professionals, Privacy, Consent and Chaperone in Healthcare Practice, Professionalism in Documentation for Healthcare Professionals and Ensuring Confidentiality in Healthcare Practice, are by Probity & Ethics, written by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197) and offered since 2020.
Questions and answers
How much CPD does a paramedic need for the HCPC?
The HCPC sets no number of hours or points. It asks paramedics to keep an up-to-date record, to carry out at least two different types of CPD activity relevant to their practice, and to show that the CPD has improved their practice and benefited their patients.
Are online CPD courses for paramedics accepted by the HCPC?
They count as CPD: the HCPC’s own list of CPD activities includes online and distance courses. The HCPC does not approve or endorse any CPD activity, so what matters is how the course relates to your practice and what changed afterwards.
Which online CPD course should a paramedic take first?
Start from the standard of proficiency where you want to improve, or from the subject of any complaint. Consent and capacity, records, and confidentiality are the courses for standards that arise on calls; the HCPC ethics course covers the standards of conduct, performance and ethics in one course.
What happens if I am selected for an HCPC CPD audit?
You have about three months to send a profile: a practice history, a statement of how you met the standards with four to six activities suggested, a dated list of the last two years of CPD, and evidence. Assessors can ask for more information or give up to three more months before removal from the Register.
Can a course help after an HCPC concern about a paramedic?
A course on the subject of the concern, with a written reflection on what you have changed, is evidence of remediation the HCPC and a panel can read. Take advice from your union or a legal representative on your response.
How much do your CPD courses for paramedics cost?
Each online course is £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10) and gives 2 CPD hours. The Module on Reflection is £49. A station or team can buy 3 courses for £200, 5 for £300 or 10 for £500.
Sources
This guide is based on the following HCPC pages, checked on 3 November 2026.
