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ARTP CPAP Practitioner Portfolio Guidance
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1 December 2020

How to complete the ARTP CPAP Practitioner Portfolio 

Portfolio Contents Overview

  • All candidates that register for the ARTP Sleep CPAP Practitioner Certificate are required to complete a portfolio of evidence for assessment purposes.
  • Candidates must submit only the requested portfolio requirements as detailed below.
  • All pages in your portfolio must be numbered and recorded on the contents page so they can be easily located by the assessor. All the work must be clearly divided into sections.
  • All work submitted must be your own

Your portfolio must consist of the following sections:

SECTION A

1) A contents page
2) Details of any prior learning/courses attended on sleep disordered breathing and CPAP therapy.
3) Summary CV of your Clinical Supervisor/Assessor.
4) Background information about your workplace (no more than 750 words) to include:

  • Local arrangements for treating patients with CPAP therapy
  • Method of referral e.g. Consultant, GP., Physiologist, ENT, Oral and Maxillofacial
  • Number and the types of patient treated e.g. Severity of OSA required to commence treatment, adult, paediatric, and patient treatment pathway.
  • The Clinician responsible for reporting on the therapy data.

SECTION B - No more than 1000 words excluding copies of local paperwork

  • Provide a copy of your local CPAP protocol (Standard Operating Procedure). This should be a document that you or your team use and not a photocopy of guidelines, and should cover initiation period, follow up, and your personal level of responsibility.
  • Give details of the Manufacturer, Model and Specification of the CPAP devices used for initiation and long-term therapy within your service/company.
  • Provide an account of how CPAP therapy works in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea/Hypopnoea Syndrome (OSAHS): 
     - If fixed pressure devices are used for long-term therapy, outline how the therapeutic pressure is derived and explain the possible benefits/disadvantages of using a fixed pressure over an auto titrating device.
     - If auto adjusting pressure devices are used for long term therapy explain the possible benefits/disadvantages of using an auto-titrating device over a fixed pressure device.
  • Provide a description of the software used to download therapy data from a CPAP device used within your service/company. This should include details of the various methods by which this data can be obtained from the device and also the level of data that can be obtained using each of these methods (for example, compliance only, trend data or flow profiles).
  • Provide copies of patient instructions and any other paperwork given to patients by your service/company on commencement of CPAP therapy.
  • Provide your local quality assurance and cleaning protocols for CPAP devices.

SECTION C - No more than 1200 words excluding local paperwork

  • Describe the types of interfaces and adjuncts to CPAP available, including benefits and limitations of the different interfaces and adjuncts.
  • Using the download data, describe how you would identify from download data that the patient is experiencing an excessive air leak during sleep. What action would you take to investigate and rectify this leak?
  • Explain the criteria used to ascertain that CPAP therapy had been successful in treating OSA, both physiologically and subjectively (include CPAP download data/subjective questionnaire(s)/discussion with patient partner). Include any paperwork used for this purpose in your service/company.
  • Following a routine download of data from a patient’s CPAP device, describe how would you analyse the data to determine that CPAP therapy is not as effective as it previously was for the patient?

SECTION D - No more than 1500 words per case study excluding download data

You will need to provide 4 case studies for patients treated with CPAP that you have personally initiated onto therapy and reviewed.  These case studies should include pre-therapy traces demonstrating the severity of OSAHS, any interventions taken to aid compliance, and traces whilst on CPAP therapy demonstrating compliance/non-compliance as appropriate to the particular case.

  • A patient with severe OSAHS successfully treated with CPAP.
  • A patient where CPAP therapy was initially unsuccessful and what was done to remedy this.
  • A patient that was found to have complex sleep apnoea, central sleep apnoea, or a co-existing sleep disorder. Explain how this was/could be diagnosed and what alternative treatment options were/could be offered.
  • A patient that was unable to tolerate CPAP therapy, establishing the reasons for this, and what alternative treatment options were/could be offered. Include evidence, if an alternative treatment was offered, of the outcome.

Please ensure that all patient identifiable data in your portfolio is anonymised. Failure to do so will constitute a breach of patient confidentiality and will result in an automatic fail being awarded.

Declaration Form
You must include a signed witness statement from a senior member of staff (Band 5 and over) at the place that you are employed indicating that all of the CPAP data included have been downloaded by you.

Click here to download the Declaration Form 

SECTION E - Direct Observation of Practical Skills (DOPS) Assessment

You will need to be assessed by a senior, qualified person within your service/company or a qualified external assessor to ensure that you are competent in the requisite aspects of CPAP therapy. The process of assessment will consist of formative and summative assessments.

Formative assessment is the use of day-to-day, often informal, assessments to explore the candidates’ understanding. It enables mentors to decide how best to help candidates develop that understanding. There will be a number of formative assessments documented. These must all be included in the portfolio to demonstrate that the correct process has been followed and that a structured process of learning and progression has been demonstrated. The number of formative assessments will depend upon the extent of prior learning and experience of the candidate. A minimum of six formative assessments will need to be carried out; three for CPAP setup and three for CPAP Review. This should not be regarded as the maximum number of formative assessments. ARTP reserves the right to require submission of all formative assessments as it so determines.

Summative assessment is used to evaluate candidate learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against the required standard or benchmark and therefore demonstrating that competence has been achieved. There will be at least two summative assessments. The areas of assessment will be:

CPAP Setup (at least 1 Summative Assessment)
1. Setting up the CPAP device as prescribed
2. Provision of a humidifier as an adjunct
3. Fitting an appropriate patient interface

CPAP Review (at least 1 Summative Assessment)
4. Troubleshooting patient interface issues
5. Supporting patients to maintain and improve compliance with CPAP therapy
6. Downloading patient data and being competent in recognising key features of the data.

Click here to download the DOPS assessment paperwork

SECTION F - Case Based Discussion (CBD) Assessment

Assessment

You will need to be assessed by a senior, qualified person within your service/company or a qualified external assessor to ensure that you are competent in the requisite aspects of CPAP set up and review.  You will be required to select a patient that you have personally performed the CPAP set up/review to discuss with the assessor.  This should include the patient’s relevant past medical history, diagnosis, severity, lifestyle considerations, occupation and other relevant information.

This assessment is used to evaluate candidate understanding of the treatment, the physiological principles of the condition for which the patient is being treated, relevant scientific and clinical principles, as well as the importance of treatment use in the context of the individual (e.g. side effects).

The two areas of assessment are:
1) CPAP set up  2) CPAP review

You will need to complete one Case Based Discussion for each area.

Click here to download the CBD assessment paperwork

Important Information

  • Formative and Summative Assessments must be included with your portfolio submission.
  • Please ensure that all patient identifiable data in your portfolio is anonymised. Failure to do so will constitute a breach of patient confidentiality and will result in an automatic fail being awarded.

SECTION F - Case Based Discussion (CBD) Assessment

Assessment

You will need to be assessed by a senior, qualified person within your service/company or a qualified external assessor to ensure that you are competent in the requisite aspects of CPAP set up and review.  You will be required to select a patient that you have personally performed the CPAP set up/review to discuss with the assessor.  This should include the patient’s relevant past medical history, diagnosis, severity, lifestyle considerations, occupation and other relevant information.

This assessment is used to evaluate candidate understanding of the treatment, the physiological principles of the condition for which the patient is being treated, relevant scientific and clinical principles, as well as the importance of treatment use in the context of the individual (e.g. side effects).

The two areas of assessment are:
1) CPAP set up  2) CPAP review

You will need to complete one Case Based Discussion for each area.

Click here to download the CBD assessment paperwork

Important Information

  • Formative and Summative Assessments must be included with your portfolio submission.
  • Please ensure that all patient identifiable data in your portfolio is anonymised. Failure to do so will constitute a breach of patient confidentiality and will result in an automatic fail being awarded.

Submitting your completed portfolio

On completion, please send the portfolio electronically to development@artp.org.uk. If the file size exceeds 10mb, we kindly request that you submit your portfolio using an online transfer facility such as WeTransfer or Dropbox. Please ensure that all documents are labelled with your name. It is advisable to retain a copy for your records.

Deadline Date

You have 6 months to complete a portfolio and this date includes any reattempts required.

Results

Details of your results will be forwarded to you within 8 - 10 weeks of receiving the above. If you require any further information do not hesitate to contact us on development@artp.org.uk.

 Extensions

If you are unable to complete your work by the assigned deadline, please complete this extension form here and email it to development@artp.org.uk before your deadline date.

Reasonable Adjustments

Candidates with impairments or learning difficulties may apply for additional time to complete their portfolio by completing a Special Requirements Form and returning it to development@artp.org.uk 


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