Newsletter of the Professional Board for Psychology

Newsletter of the Professional Board for Psychology

Explore the latest issue of the Professional Board for Psychology Newsletter! Find insights on mental health advocacy, workplace well-being, updates on professional compliance, and strategies for empowering patient choices. Stay informed about developments shaping the future of psychological practice.

Complete the free CPD activity in the newsletter and stand a chance to earn 2 CEUs!

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PsyCPD: PsySSA’s In-House CPD Platform

PsyCPD: PsySSA’s In-House CPD Platform

PsyCPD: Earn Your CPD Points Today!

In line with the requirements of the Continuing Professional Development Guidelines for the Health Professions, PsySSA offers members access to an online PsySSA CPD platform. Members can obtain CPD points through the SAJP and AJOPA questionnaires available on this platform. PsySSA CPD aims to assist Professionals manage points and ensure HPCSA compliance. At no additional cost, members are able to read through articles, answer associated questions, attain CPD Points and store Continuous Education Units (CEU) in the CPD vaults. The opportunity to obtain CPD points is also made available at PsySSA’s annual Congress and through our CPD Workshop Series 2024.

PsyCPD is your gateway to continuing professional development, featuring a CPD Accredited Articles Library. Here, you’ll find a selection of articles each paired with a questionnaire, providing an opportunity to earn CPD points. With up to 18 Clinical CPD points currently available, PsyCPD offers a valuable resource for advancing your expertise and fulfilling your professional development requirements.

 

HPCSA CPD Regulatory Update
  • Members are reminded that CPD Certificates are no longer issued by service providers.
  • CPD points allocations to HPCSA for activities completed on the PsyCPD platform are submitted bi-monthly.
  • To verify uploaded CPD points, enquiries must be directed to the HPCSA. For a step-by-step user manual for practitioners to send a request for CPD updates, click the button below:
Frequently Asked Questions for Continuous Professional Development Programme

Frequently Asked Questions for Continuous Professional Development Programme

Dear Member,

We hope you are well.

PsySSA has been made aware of a change in the HPCSA CPD System. Practitioners are now required to be CPD compliant at all times. All evidence of CPD compliance are valid for 24 months and compliance is determined on a 24 month basis.

Kindly see the HPCSA Frequently Asked Questions for Continuous Professional Development Programme below.

HPCSA Annual Fee Notice 2023

HPCSA Annual Fee Notice 2023

This serves as a HPCSA Annual Fee Reminder. Notice is hereby given that the Annual Fees are payable by persons registered in terms of the Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act No. 56 of 1974) before 1 April each year.

Payment of 2023/24 Annual Fee in South Africa – Online Renewal and Payment Portal

Council launched an Online Renewal Portal in March 2017 to enable practitioners to renew annual fees online. We urge practitioners to use the Online Renewals Portal. Should you encounter challenges using the portal please contact the Call Centre on 012 338 9300/1.

Once you have gone through the renewal process online, including making the appropriate payment, you will be able to view and/or print an electronic “QR coded” Proof of Payment of current Annual Fee Renewal for 2023/24. This is official HPCSA proof that a Practitioner is up to date with their Annual Fee Payments.

Payments Outside South Africa

Practitioners residing outside of South Africa who encounter problems with electronic online payments may still make payments to:

Account holder:           Health Professions Council of South Africa
Bank:                            ABSA
Branch code:               334945
Account no:                 405 003 3481
Swift code:                  ABSAZAJJ
Payment Reference:   PS 0092665

Payments made from a location outside the borders of South Africa must make adequate provision for bank charges (local and overseas) as well as a possible deficit due to changes in exchange rate.

You will be able to login and view/print your current practicing card, within 48 hours after proof of payment has been submitted and received at HPCSA.

Exemptions from payment of 2023/24 Annual Fee

Should you no longer be practicing your profession due to ill health, you may be exempted from payment of the 2023/24 Annual Fee. A Medical Report, issued by a registered Medical Practitioner, must accompany such application, which should reach the Council’s offices before 1 April 2023.

Exemption from paying the Annual Fee may be granted from the year in which you turn 71, if you turn 71 before 1 April 2023, except for practitioners registered in Professional Boards for Environmental Health Practitioners, Medical Technologist, Radiography & Clinical Technology, Dietetics and Nutritionists, Dental Assisting, Dental Therapy and Oral Hygiene who may be granted exemption from the year in which you turn 66, if you turn 66 before 1 April 2023.

Voluntary Erasure

Written application for Voluntary Erasure under Section 19(1)(c) of the Act must be received by Council on or before 31 March 2023 and 2023/24 Annual Membership Fees will not be due and payable on successful finalisation of application by Council.

 Allocation of monies received from Practitioner

Monies received from Practitioners will be allocated against oldest debt first. It is important that Practitioners access the Online Renewals portal to ensure that there are no other outstanding balances due and payable. Practitioners who have used their practitioner number (please check if number is correctly recorded as HPCSA do receive payments were incorrect reference number is utilised) as reference for payment, monies will be auto allocated to practitioner account and there is no need to send HPCSA any proof of payment. Only if another reference is utilised other than a practitioner number then proof of payment can be attached in logging a service request on the Online system. This will assist the Finance department to trace and allocate a payment. Payments made via online portal will also be allocated automatically against the practitioner account.

Suspension from relevant register due to non-payment of 2023/24 Annual fees

The non-payment or partial payment of 2023/24 Annual Fees will result in a Registered Person being suspended from the Register and the need for restoration, which attracts Penalty Fees.

 Provincial government health practitioner employees

Employer and labour unions in the Public Health and Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Council have signed Resolution 3 of 2019: Agreement on payment of annual statutory registration fees in respect of health care occupations for the Health and Social Development Departments.

All provincial government health practitioner employees must liaise with their respective provincial health departments to check if deductions were done on PERSAL for payment of their Annual Fees for 2023/24.

The PERSAL deduction process can take up to end of July 2023 to finalise and practitioners who is government employee should try and avoid paying Annual Fees for yourself until the Persal process is finalised. It should be noted that HPCSA has a manual refund process and during peak period refunds may take up to 6 months to finalise.

If an annual fee reminder is received after July 2023 indicating that a balance is still due on a practitioner account then HPCSA would urge a government employee practitioner to continue to make such payment to prevent the practitioner from been suspended due to failure to pay annual fees as in terms of the Health Professions act, practitioners will stay responsible for the payment of any outstanding annual fees to Council.

The online HPCSA system can be used to access practitioner account statement which will reflect all outstanding invoices due for payment.

Yours faithfully

Head of Department: Finance and SCM (Chief Financial Officer)
Ms M De Graaff