(Updated 2 September 2024)
We have published our annual performance review of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). During 2023/24, we monitored the HCPC’s performance against the Standards of Good Regulation (the Standards).
For this period, covering 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, the HCPC has met 16 out of the 18 Standards. Our report explains how we made our decision.
The performance review is our check on how well the regulators have been protecting the public and promoting confidence in the health and care professions. This year, we have used a new approach to assessing regulators against our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Standard. In order to meet the Standard, regulators must assure us they are delivering the four high-level outcomes supported by our new evidence matrix. We have seen the HCPC build on the EDI data it holds about its registrants and it has started to use the data to understand the characteristics of those within its fitness to practise process. The HCPC seeks and acts on feedback from a diverse range of stakeholders, and we commend its work in including a diverse range of voices in its consultation on the revised standards of conduct, performance and ethics. We are therefore pleased to report that the HCPC has met Standard 3 again this year.
The HCPC continued to embed a number of projects designed to improve its fitness to practise processes. Despite this, it is still taking too long to progress cases to a final Fitness to Practise Committee decision, and the HCPC has therefore again not met Standard 15.
We also identified weaknesses in the HCPC’s oversight of cases handled by its external legal providers. As a result, a registrant had been able to practise for three months after they had been charged with a serious offence against a patient, exposing the public to serious risk. We concluded that Standard 17 was not met.
Although we received mixed feedback from stakeholders regarding the support provided to parties involved in the FTP process, there was enough evidence of improvement this year for us to conclude that Standard 18 is met.
We have written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Health and Social Care Committee to provide an update on the HCPC’s performance, and we will continue to closely monitor the HCPC’s performance in these areas.
The judgements we make against each Standard incorporate a range of evidence to form an overall picture of performance. Meeting a Standard means that we are satisfied that a regulator is performing well in that area. It does not mean there is no room for improvement. Similarly, finding that a regulator has met all of the Standards does not mean perfection. Rather, it signifies good performance in the 18 areas we assess.
Our reviews do not stop when we press the publish button. They are an ongoing, continuous process and, where we’ve identified areas for improvement, we pay particular attention to these as we continue to monitor the regulator’s performance.
As well as the areas highlighted above, we will monitor the implementation of the revised Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics (SCPE’s) which will come into effect on 1 September 2024.
We will also monitor the HCPC’s new risk-based approach to managing protection of title cases, including the impact the changes have on case progression.
There are other areas of the HCPC’s work which we will be monitoring closely, and you can find out more about the HCPC’s review in the full report. You can find out more about how we review the regulators here.
ENDS
Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care
Contact: media@professionalstandards.org.uk
Notes to the Editor- The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care oversees 10 statutory bodies that regulate health and social care professionals in the UK.
- We assess their performance and report to Parliament. We also conduct audits and investigations and can appeal fitness to practise cases to the courts if we consider that sanctions are insufficient to protect the public and it is in the public interest.
- We also set standards for organisations holding voluntary registers for health and social care occupations and accredit those that meet them.
- We share good practice and knowledge, conduct research and introduce new ideas to our sector. We monitor policy developments in the UK and internationally and provide advice on issues relating to professional standards in health and social care.
- We do this to promote the health, safety and wellbeing of users of health and social care services and the public. We are an independent body, accountable to the UK Parliament.
- Our values are – integrity, transparency, respect, fairness and teamwork – and we strive to ensure that they are at the core of our work.
- More information about our work and the approach we take is available at www.professionalstandards.org.uk