CPD for Healthcare Professionals in Ireland: The Complete Guide
Doctors, nurses and midwives, and CORU registrants each follow different CPD rules. This guide explains the differences and points you to the right detailed post.
Continuing professional development (CPD) for healthcare professionals in Ireland is not governed by one national scheme. Doctors, nurses and midwives, and health and social care professionals registered with CORU each answer to a different regulator, and each regulator has its own model for hours, categories and evidence. This guide is a starting point for employers, managers and individual professionals in Dublin and elsewhere who want a clear picture before reading the detail.
It draws together three of our regulator-specific posts: NMBI CPD requirements for nurses and midwives, our explainer on the Medical Council's CPD categories, and our guide to CORU CPD requirements. We describe what each post says and who it is for. We do not add new rules here, and the regulators' own websites remain the authority on their schemes.
How to use this guide
- Find your register first. The right post depends on whether you are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI), the Medical Council, or CORU.
- Read the section below for your regulator, then open the full post for the detail.
- Check the date. The three posts show their own last-updated dates (20 September 2026 for the Medical Council post, 21 September 2026 for the NMBI and CORU posts). CPD rules and rollout timetables can change, so confirm the current position with your regulator before relying on any figure.
- Use the comparison table and the record-keeping section to compare approaches and to plan your own recording habits.
Why there is no single CPD scheme
Each of the three posts makes the same underlying point: the obligation to keep learning comes from the professional's regulator, and the regulators have not adopted one common design. The Medical Council's approach, as our post describes it, is built on defined categories with minimum hours in each. The CORU approach is a single common credit target across its professions, with self-directed learning. The NMBI approach, according to our post, is still moving from a general duty in the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics towards a structured Professional Competence Scheme.
For employers, this has a practical consequence. A multidisciplinary team in a Dublin hospital, nursing home or primary care practice may include staff under all three regulators. A single internal CPD policy that assumes one model will not fit everyone, so it helps to know the differences.
Nurses and midwives: the NMBI
Our NMBI post is written mainly for registered nurses and midwives, with some material that is also relevant to line managers and training providers. Its central message, as at its September 2026 update, is that there was no legally mandatory, audited CPD hours requirement in force for the whole profession at that time. The post explains that the NMBI was finalising a Professional Competence Scheme following a pilot, and that until a scheme is in force the obligation is the general duty in the Code to stay competent.
The post goes on to describe what the proposed scheme looks like: a self-directed, hours-based model on a three-year cycle, with a reflective approach rather than fixed categories. It explains what the post treats as valid CPD (work-based learning, professional activity, formal education and self-directed learning), how the NMBI's guidance for providers approaches awarding hours, and how verification worked in the pilot. It also notes that annual registration renewal is administrative and does not currently check CPD.
Who should read it: nurses and midwives who want to know what applies now and what is coming, and managers who need to explain the position to staff. Because the post itself says the details may change as the NMBI finalises the model, read it alongside the NMBI's own pages.
Doctors: the Medical Council
Our Medical Council post is aimed at registered doctors practising in Ireland, including those not currently in active practice. It explains that CPD for doctors is a legal requirement delivered through the Professional Competence Scheme, with the Medical Council setting the framework and postgraduate training bodies running the schemes day to day. The post on Medical Council CPD categories sets out the four-category structure that it says took effect on 1 May 2025, the annual hours target, and the separate treatment of doctors who are not in active practice.
It also covers how compliance is tracked: doctors log activities and upload evidence through their training body's online system, and declare their scheme enrolment to the Medical Council at annual registration renewal. The post explains that category minimums cannot be reshuffled, and recommends checking the training body's portal early in the scheme year.
Who should read it: doctors, and the medical managers, clinical leads and HR teams who support them, particularly where a doctor is unsure which training body's rules apply.
Allied health professionals: CORU
Our CORU post is for health and social care professionals on a CORU register. It explains that CORU regulates several professions through separate registration boards, that open registers exist for some professions while others are being phased in, and that a single common CPD model applies across the open-register professions. The CORU CPD requirements post describes the credit target per 12-month period, the way credits are counted, the self-directed and self-assessed nature of the scheme, and the types of activity it treats as valid.
It also explains audits, which the post says are being rolled out board by board, the records registrants may be asked to submit, and how deferrals work for leave and illness. The post says CORU does not pre-approve courses, which means registrants should be ready to justify their choices if audited. It points readers to coru.ie for current status.
The three approaches compared
| Regulator | Model as described in our posts | Who runs the day-to-day system |
|---|---|---|
| NMBI | General competence duty now; hours-based, self-directed Professional Competence Scheme being finalised, with no fixed categories | The NMBI |
| Medical Council | Four defined categories with minimums, within an annual total, on a scheme year | Postgraduate training bodies, under the Medical Council framework |
| CORU | One common credit target per 12 months, self-directed and self-assessed, with audits rolled out by board | Each CORU registration board |
Our NMBI and CORU posts each note that other regulators, such as the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, have separate schemes, and that readers should check the regulator covering their own registration.
Record keeping across all three
The posts differ on detail but agree that evidence matters. The Medical Council post says records should be kept for around six years in case of a verification audit. The CORU post says records must cover the full 12-month period and be kept for the full length of registration, and that CORU offers an optional record template. The NMBI post advises keeping a simple record even though CPD logging is not currently audited across the profession.
A practical approach: whichever regulator you answer to, keep dated entries as you go rather than reconstructing the year later, note what you learned and how it affected your practice, and store certificates or attendance evidence in one place you control rather than only on an employer system. Check your regulator's current guidance on what evidence it expects.
What employers can do
Our suggestion for managers in Irish healthcare and social care settings: keep a short list of the regulator that applies to each role, share the relevant post or regulator page with new starters at induction, and allow time in the working week for logging CPD. Where mandatory workplace training counts towards CPD, the NMBI post says it can, if relevant to scope of practice, but the other regulators' rules may differ, so confirm for each register. For adjacent compliance topics, see the posts on mandatory training and on AI in healthcare that sit alongside this guide.
Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.
Frequently asked questions
Is CPD mandatory for all healthcare professionals in Ireland?
It depends on the regulator. Our Medical Council and CORU posts describe defined requirements, while our NMBI post explains that the NMBI's structured scheme was still being finalised at its last update. Check your own regulator's current position.
Can I use the same CPD activity for more than one regulator?
The posts do not address this directly. If you are registered with more than one body, ask each regulator how it counts activities and what evidence it wants.
Does mandatory workplace training count as CPD?
Our NMBI post says it can count if it is relevant to your scope of practice. Our Medical Council post advises checking with your training body, for example for open disclosure training. Confirm the rule for your register.
Where can I find the current requirements?
On your regulator's own website. Our posts show their last-updated dates so you can judge how recent the summary is, but they are general information and not a substitute for the regulator's pages.
Which post should I read first?
Start with the post for your own register, then read the others if you manage a mixed team.
In short, there are three regulators and three models. Read the post for your register, keep good records, and confirm anything important on the regulator's own site.
This page was last updated:
Learnsignal Healthcare Education Team
The Learnsignal Healthcare Education Team creates CPD and compliance training content for nurses, allied health professionals, and care providers, drawing on current regulatory guidance from bodies including NMBI and equivalent professional regulators.
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