About Professional Competence

Under Arrangement with the Irish Medical Council, the Irish College of GPs operates a Professional Competence Scheme (PCS) to support and assist registered medical practitioners with enrolling on a Scheme and meeting the annual Scheme requirements. The Irish College of GPs also has a role in ensuring the quality of provided and recognised CPD activities, handling complaints and appeals and ensuring effective management processes are in place for the ongoing operation of the PCS.

When you are completing your annual retention of registration form this year, the Medical Council will ask you to confirm the following:

1. That you are enrolled on a Professional Competence Scheme (PCS) for the current year and the date that you paid your enrolment fee 
2. That you have achieved the minimum CPD requirements for the current PCS year

All Postgraduate Medical Training Bodies will be required to forward the Medical Council Registration Number (MCRN) and name of all registered medical practitioners who have not met their annual PCS requirements for the 2021 2022 PCS year to the Medical Council.

Please be aware that a false declaration on your retention of registration form could leave you open to a complaint by the Medical Council.

What do I need to do?

Please ensure that you have recorded all your CPD activity to your ePortfolio before 30 April. All doctors registered on the Specialist or General Division of the Medical Council for the duration of the current year will be expected to record the minimum requirements of 25 CPD credits and 1 clinical/practice audit. Where you have been on maternity, sick or compassionate leave from active practice for three months or more, Contact Us and we will note this on your record for you.

Where can I find further information?

Find further information on the Medical Council website

Standard 1 – Good professional practice

The doctor maintains professional competence to achieve the outcome of good professional practice with contributes to patient safety and quality of patient care.

Standard 2 – Planned on assessed needs

The doctor plans the maintenance of professional competence based on current patient, practice and health system needs as well as anticipated future developments.

Read more about creating a Professional Development Plan

Standard 3 – Diverse and relevant practice-based activities

The doctor is responsible for maintaining professional competence through a diverse range of self-directed and practice-based activities relevant to assessed needs to achieve targets set out in Council's Framework for Maintenance of Professional Competence Activities (View PCS Annual Requirements)

The Irish College of GPs offers a wide range of CPD activities including events, courses, online learning, quick reference guides, podcasts, journals and audit supports.

Standard 4 – Reflection and action

The doctor reflects on activity to maintain professional competence and takes action to ensure good professional practice that contributes to patient safety and quality of patient care.

Standard 5 – Documented and demonstrable

The doctors collects and documents evidence to demonstrate the maintenance of professional competence. 

Read about how to use your ePortfolio

Your annual PCS fee of €240 covers systems and services to support and assist you in maintaining your professional competence. These include:

• PCS Helpdesk (receiving circa 4,000 queries annually)
• Guidelines, FAQs, Ezines and communications
• Online ePortfolio and enrolment system
• Audit tools and assistance 
• Annual statements of participation
• Verification process
• CPDR Attendance Code
• Recognition for external CPD activity
• Liaison with Medical Council on behalf of enrolees 

Professional Competence Schemes are designed to promote self-directed and practice-based learning activities rather than supervised training. As well as promoting personal professional development the Schemes aim to promote activities that maintain and develop the competencies (e.g. professionalism, knowledge, skills and attitudes of the individual practitioner), which are essential for meeting the changing needs of patients and the healthcare delivery system. The Schemes also encourage participants to plan, record and reflect on professional development needs, as part of their pursuit for lifelong learning.

The Scheme currently includes 2 elements: 

1. Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
2. Clinical/practice Audit

Multi-Source Feedback may be added to the schemes at a later stage in accordance with IMC guidelines.

Source: Medical Council

The Irish College of GPs is required by the Medical Council to verify the activity recorded by a random sample of 3-5% of enrolees on an annual basis. This sampling is completed by the Irish College of GPs Research, Policy & Information department, who have no knowledge of PCS enrolees or their engagement with the Irish College of GPs on any issues. This is a supportive process to help enrolees identify where they may have gaps in their evidence or if they have recorded an activity incorrectly. Aggregated data is reported to the Medical Council in our annual reports.

During the verification process the Irish College of GPs will be looking to see that the doctor has:

• The minimum number of CPD credits recorded to their ePortfolio
• Completed a clinical/practice audit and recorded same
• Evidence to support the recorded activity

All doctors selected for verification will be notified in advance by email and/or letter/phone call to allow them time to ensure their professional competence portfolio records are up to date.

If you are selected, please remember that there are advantages. You can find out if you have been recording activity correctly and if you have been providing appropriate evidence so that you can make any necessary changes. Also, if you are successfully verified, you will be removed from the selection pool for the following five years. 

For more information, please download our Guide to the Verification Process (PDF, 235KB)

All doctors registered on the general or specialist divisions of the Irish Medical Council must enrol on a professional competence scheme (PCS). When you are completing your annual retention of registration for the Medical Council, you will be asked to provide the name of the PCS you are enrolled with and the date you enrolled on the current year of the PCS.

If you are currently a trainee, you do not need to enrol on a PCS, however you will need to do so within 30 days of completing your training scheme.