Get To Know The Health And Care Professions Council (HCPC)

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The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), originally the Health Professions Council (HPC), is a statutory body in the UK that regulates individuals in the health and care professions.

The Council claims that safeguarding the public is its primary goal. For the professions it regulates, it achieves this by establishing and upholding norms of competence and behavior. Its primary responsibilities include approving the education and training programs that healthcare professionals must complete before registering with the HCPC and maintaining and publishing a Register of healthcare providers who adhere to predetermined professional standards of practice.

History of HCPC

Under the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act of 2002, the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine (CPSM) was replaced by the Health Professions Council in 2003.

By 2005, the HPC had established regulations for thirteen protected titles: art therapists, biomedical scientists, chiropodists/podiatrists, clinical scientists, dieticians, occupational therapists, operating room practitioners, orthoptists, paramedics, physiotherapists, prosthetists and orthotics, radiographers, and speech and language therapists.

The General Social Care Council relinquished control of the organization’s regulation of social workers in England on August 1, 2012. In order to better represent its increased duties, the HPC was renamed the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The Health and Social Care Act of 2012, which was passed by the UK government, included these modifications. In order to better reflect the variety of experts that they regulate, their tagline was modified from “Regulating health, psychological and social work professionals” to this.

According to the HCPC, it has also been given unprecedented authority to create voluntary registers for unregulated professions or related occupations, including for students looking to enter a regulated or unregulated profession.

The Professional Standards Authority is responsible for regulating the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the General Dental Council, and other health professions in the UK.

On December 2, 2019, Social Work England, a new organization, took over the regulation of social workers in England.

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Professions regulated by the HCPC

The HCPC regulates 15 categories of health and care professionals. They are:

Category	Protected Titles	Professional bodies
Arts therapists	Art Psychotherapist Art Therapist Dramatherapist Music Therapist	British Association of Art Therapists British Association of Dramatherapists British Association for Music Therapy
Biomedical scientists	Biomedical Scientist	Institute of Biomedical Science
Chiropodists/podiatrists	Chiropodist Podiatrist	The Society of Chiropodists & Podiatrists The British Chiropody and Podiatry Association The Institute of Chiropodists and Podiatrists The Alliance of Private Sector Chiropody and Podiatry Practitioners
Clinical Scientists	Clinical Scientist	Association of Clinical Scientists (ACS)
Dietitians	Dietitian	British Dietetic Association
Hearing aid dispensers	Hearing aid dispenser	British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists (BSHAA)
Occupational therapists	Occupational Therapist	Royal College of Occupational Therapists
Operating department practitioners	Operating Department Practitioner	College of Operating Department Practitioners (CODP) Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP)
Orthoptists	Orthoptist	British & Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS)
Paramedics	Paramedic	College of Paramedics
Physiotherapists	Physical Therapist Physiotherapist	Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
Practitioner psychologists (e.g. Clinical psychologists)	Clinical psychologist Counselling psychologist Educational psychologist Forensic psychologist Health psychologist Occupational psychologist Practitioner psychologist Registered psychologist Sport and exercise psychologist	British Psychological Society (BPS) Association of Clinical Psychologists (ACP-UK) Association of Educational Psychologists
Prosthetists and orthotists	Orthotist Prosthetist	British Association of Prosthetists & Orthotists
Radiographers	Diagnostic Radiographer Radiographer Therapeutic Radiographer	The Society & College of Radiographers
Speech and language therapists	Speech and Language Therapist Speech Therapist	Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists

These professions, including those listed above, all have at least one designated title that is legally protected. HCPC registration is required for anyone utilizing these titles. It is illegal for someone to use a protected title without authorization or to falsely represent that they are registered with the HCPC.

Maintaining standards

If a professional who is registered with them does not meet the standards which are set, the HCPC can take action which might include stopping an individual from practicing

Other healthcare regulators in the UK

The nine UK healthcare regulators are under the direction of the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA), an independent organization that reports to the UK Parliament and works to advance public health and wellbeing.

Which are: