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Information for registrants
Why your HCPCregistrationmatters
About usWe are the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).We regulate health and care professionals in the UK and ourmain aim is to protect the public. To do this, we:
– set standards for registrants’ education, professional skillsand behaviour;
– keep a register of professionals who meet those standards;
– approve programmes that allow students to apply to join ourRegister when they complete them; and
– take action when professionals on our Register do not meet ourstandards.
About this documentWe have produced this leaflet to explain exactly why you needto register with us and why registration benefits you. Althoughour main aim is to protect the public, registering with us hasclear benefits to health and care professionals. Throughout thisdocument, ‘we’ refers to the HCPC and ‘you’ refers to an HCPCregistrant or prospective registrant.
Creating public trust by setting standardsBy setting standards we help create trust in your profession.This is because standards provide accountability. This means thatif these standards are not met or something goes wrong, thepublic know that we will investigate. Below is a list of thestandards we set.
Standards of education and training
We set standards of education and training (SETs) against whichwe assess education and training programmes. A programmewhich meets the SETs allows a student who successfullycompletes that programme to meet the standards of proficiency.The student is then eligible to apply for registration.
Standards of proficiency
Our standards of proficiency are the minimum standards weconsider necessary to protect the public and make sure safe andeffective practice is carried out by the professionals we regulate.We produce both generic and profession-specific standardswhich explain your responsibilities.
Standards of conduct, performance and ethics
Our standards of conduct, performance and ethics play animportant role in helping us make decisions about the characterof the people who apply for registration. They are also importantin cases where we decide whether someone’s fitness to practiseis impaired. The standards describe public and professionalexpectations of how registrants should behave.
We also publish guidance on conduct and ethics for students, whichdraws on the standards of conduct, performance and ethics and aimsto prepare prospective registrants for what we will expect of them.
Standards for continuing professional development (CPD)
We define CPD as a range of learning activities through whichhealth and care professionals maintain and develop throughouttheir career. CPD benefits not only your own practice but thereputation of your profession. It does so by making sureregistrants keep their skills and knowledge up to date.
Upholding public confidence in you and yourprofession
Protecting professional titles
The table over the page shows the professions we regulate andtheir corresponding protected titles. Anyone using one of thesetitles must be registered with us, or they may be prosecuted andfined up to £5,000.
Anybody who misuses a professional title is undermining thereputation of that profession and we will take action against them.
mêçÑÉëëáçå mêçíÉÅíÉÇ íáíäÉArts therapists Art psychotherapist
Art therapistDramatherapistMusic therapist
Biomedical scientists Biomedical scientist
Chiropodists / podiatrists ChiropodistPodiatrist
Clinical scientists Clinical scientist
Dietitians DieticianDietitian
Hearing aid dispensers Hearing aid dispenser
Occupational therapists Occupational therapist
Operating department Operating departmentpractitioners practitioner
Orthoptists Orthoptist
Paramedics Paramedic
Physiotherapists Physical therapistPhysiotherapist
Practitioner psychologists Clinical psychologistCounselling psychologistEducational psychologistForensic psychologistHealth psychologistOccupational psychologistPractitioner psychologistRegistered psychologistSport and exercise psychologist
Prosthestists / orthotists OrthotistProsthestist
Radiographers Diagnostic radiographerRadiographerTherapeutic radiographer
Social workers in England Social worker
Speech and language Speech and language therapisttherapists Speech therapist
The fitness to practise process
Our fitness to practise process is not designed to punishregistrants for past mistakes. It is designed to protect the publicfrom those who are not fit to practise. If we find that a registrant’sfitness to practise is ‘impaired’, it means that there are concernsabout their ability to practise safely and effectively.
If we do find a registrant’s fitness to practise is impaired, there is arange of potential outcomes. We have the power to apply acaution, set conditions of practice on their registration, suspend aregistrant from practising for up to a year at a time or strikesomeone off the Register. This means they can no longer practiseusing a protected title.
Our fitness to practise process helps to make sure that wemaintain the public’s confidence in your profession by dealing withthose who do not maintain standards.
Making sure there is consistency by approvingeducation programmesWe approve programmes within the UK for the professions weregulate. Once someone has successfully completed anapproved programme, they are eligible to apply to our Register.
By controlling entry to the professions, we make sure thatentrants are fit to practise and that we maintain consistency in theoutcomes of programmes.
The value of independent statutory regulationRegulation is statutory (set by law) and our powers come fromthe Health and Social Work Professions Order 2001. We areindependently run and although we work closely with a numberof professional bodies and universities, we are not a part of anyof the four UK departments of health or health services.
We are run by a council made up of appointed members ofthe professions we regulate, and members of the public.The decisions taken on regulating health and care professionalsare made by the professionals who they will affect, and by themembers of the public who will use them.
Professional input – your involvement
There are several crucial roles we need professional input for.Any registrant can apply to become an appointed member ofcouncil or a ‘partner’ to carry out work on our behalf. These rolesare listed below.
– Council members contribute knowledge and expertise tocouncil meetings, and act as ambassadors for us.
– Education and training committee members help to makedecisions on matters relating to education, training andregistration.
– Visitors help assess education-provider courses to decidewhether they meet our standards. Their work helps theEducation and Training Committee make decisions aboutapproving programmes.
– Registration assessors look at applications fromprofessionals who have trained abroad, or who apply undertransitional arrangements. They decide whether the applicantmeets our standards.
– Panel members deal with concerns raised about registrants.Our ‘investigating panel’, decide whether there is a case toanswer. If a concern reaches the stage of a hearing, it is thenheard by a panel to decide whether the fitness to practise of aregistrant is impaired, and whether action needs to be taken toprotect the public.
– CPD assessors review the CPD profiles of our registrantsagainst our CPD standards.
Economies of scaleWe regulate 16 health and care professions. Because we haveover 304,000 professionals on the Register, we benefit from‘economies of scale’ and have a relatively low yearly registrationfee. This compares well to other regulators who regulate fewerprofessions and have considerably higher fees.
Working abroadWe work with regulators from around the world, including withinthe European Union and the European Economic Area. We cangive you a Certificate of Current Professional Status which showsthat you are registered with us.
Promoting your registrationWe have created a number of resources to support you inpromoting your HCPC registration. These benefit you as aregistrant, as they clearly show that you meet our standards.
These resources include:
– a registration card and a certificate to display in your workplace;
– free public information posters and leaflets; and
– our HCPC registration logo.
For more information see www.hcpc-uk.org/registrants/promoting
Keeping you informedSign up to HCPC In Focus, our free e-newsletter. We producethis every two months and it covers important registration issuessuch as renewing your registration and CPD audit information, aswell as consultations and new publications. To sign up, [email protected] or download copies from our website..
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Visit our website: www.hcpc-uk.org
© Health and Care Professions Council 2012 (printed August 2012)This document has been produced using trees from sustainable forests
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If you would like copies of this document in otherformats or in Welsh, phone +44 (0)20 7840 9806or email [email protected]
Park House184 Kennington Park RoadLondon SE11 4BU
tel +44 (0)845 300 6184fax +44 (0)20 7820 9684www.hcpc-uk.org
