Reflective practice for podiatrists: turning foot and lower-limb decisions into HCPC CPD

If you are a podiatrist or chiropodist, your HCPC registration renews every two years, and at each renewal the regulator selects a random sample of registrants to prove they have kept their practice up to date. Reflective practice is one of the simplest and most defensible ways to build that proof. The HCPC lists reflection as a recognised CPD activity, and a well-written reflection shows exactly what the regulator is looking for: that your learning changed something for the better, and that your service users benefited.

The current chiropodist and podiatrist renewal window closes on 31 July 2026, so this is a useful moment to look at how reflection fits your CPD, whether or not you are selected for audit this cycle.

What the HCPC actually asks of you

Continuing professional development for HCPC registrants is governed by five standards. You must:

1. keep a continuous, up to date and accurate record of your CPD activities
2. show that your activities are a mixture of learning relevant to your current or future practice
3. seek to ensure your CPD has contributed to the quality of your practice and service delivery
4. seek to ensure your CPD benefits your service users
5. present a written profile containing evidence of your CPD when asked

At each renewal the HCPC audits a random 2.5 per cent of each profession. If you are picked, you submit a CPD profile rather than simply confirming you have kept it up. Only registrants who have been on the Register for two years or more can be selected, so if you are renewing for the first time you will not be audited this cycle.

One thing worth noting: the HCPC does not require a set number of CPD hours, and it does not mandate any single type of activity. What it wants is a mixture, and evidence that the learning fed back into your practice.

Why reflection earns its place in a podiatry profile

That last point is where reflection is efficient. A course certificate proves attendance. A reflection proves impact, which is what standards 3 and 4 are really testing.

Podiatry is full of moments that make good reflective material precisely because the decision was not automatic. Good candidates include:

• a diabetic foot assessment where the risk category was not obvious
• a nail surgery consultation where consent, local anaesthesia or a patient's expectations needed careful handling
• a biomechanical assessment where your first hypothesis about the cause of pain turned out to be wrong
• a wound that was not healing as expected and made you question your management plan
• a decision to refer, or not to refer, to vascular services, orthopaedics or the wider multidisciplinary team
• a piece of feedback or a complaint that changed how you communicate

Choosing a moment worth writing about

You do not need a dramatic event. In fact, the quiet cases where you changed your mind often reflect better than the emergencies. Look for a moment where you noticed something, made a judgement, and would now do something differently or more deliberately. That gap between what you did and what you learned is the reflection.

Pick one decision, not a whole clinic. A single, specific case gives you room to be honest about your reasoning, which is far more convincing than a general statement that you keep your knowledge current.

A worked example

During a routine review, I assessed the feet of a patient with long-standing diabetes who had booked mainly for nail care. Their pulses were present and they reported no pain, so my first instinct was that this was a low-risk, routine visit. When I tested sensation with a monofilament, there was a clear reduction on one foot that the patient had not noticed, along with heavy callus over a pressure point. I realised I had almost let the reason for the appointment, nail care, frame the whole assessment as low risk. Reflecting afterwards, I recognised that I had anchored on the presenting request rather than the full risk picture. I read the current national guidance on diabetic foot risk stratification again, and I discussed the case in supervision. I have since changed how I open these appointments: I complete the risk assessment first, regardless of why the patient booked, and I document the reason for any change in risk category. On the next similar case, that habit meant I escalated footwear advice and review frequency earlier than I would have done before.

Short as it is, that reflection does real work. It names a specific decision, it is honest about the reasoning that nearly went wrong, and it ends with a concrete change that benefits patients. That is standards 3 and 4 in two paragraphs.

Turning it into audit-ready evidence

A reflection on its own is a private note. To make it count in a profile, connect it to the structure the HCPC uses.

• Your summary is a dated list of every CPD activity since your last renewal. Your reflection goes on that list with its date. If you have a gap of three or more consecutive months, the HCPC asks you to explain why in your statement.
• Your personal statement should focus on standards 3 and 4. Choose four to six representative activities to describe in more detail, and for each one say what you did, what you learned, and how it benefited your service users. The example above is written to do exactly that.
• Your evidence should be between four and twelve pieces, and only needs to support the activities you discuss in the statement. For a reflection, the evidence might be the written reflection itself, a supervision note, or an updated clinic protocol.
• Anonymise everything. Any identifiable detail about a patient, such as a name, an address, a date or a record number, must be removed before it goes anywhere near your profile.

Notice how much a single reflection can carry. It is an activity on your summary, one of your four to six detailed examples in the statement, and a piece of evidence, all at once.

A note on difficult cases and your wellbeing

Some of the cases most worth reflecting on are the ones that unsettled you: a limb that could not be saved, a safeguarding concern, an outcome you keep replaying. Reflection is meant to help you learn from these, not to make you relive them. The difference between reflection and rumination is direction. Reflection moves towards a specific change in practice and then stops. Rumination circles the distress without a way out.

If a case is weighing on you, that matters in its own right. Speak to your occupational health service or your union, and if you are struggling, the Samaritans are available free at any time on 116 123. Look after the clinician first, then write the reflection.

One easier place to start

Reflectory interviews you about a real decision, one question at a time, and turns your answers into a structured reflective account in your own words. It screens out identifiable details as you go and includes a built-in note on how AI was used, so what you submit is genuinely your reflection, ready for your HCPC profile. If the blank page is the thing that stops you, a short conversation is an easier place to begin.