Monitoring Report - Health and Care Professions Council 2021/22

We have published our most recent report for the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Key statistics

• Regulates the practice of a variety of health and care professions in the UK
• 297,515 professionals on its register (as at 31 March 2022)
• Registration is £180, paid over a two-year cycle

Highlights

This report covers the period 1 January 2021 – 31 March 2022.

Key findings

• The HCPC has met Standard 3, our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Standard, this year. It has worked actively to collect EDI data about its registrants leading to a significant increase in the level of EDI data it holds. We have seen examples of the work the HCPC does to promote EDI internally and externally. The HCPC has a clear commitment to EDI.
• The HCPC has improved engagement with professional bodies. We received positive feedback from stakeholders about the HCPC’s willingness to engage, collaborate, and be open to feedback.
• In January 2022, following a successful pilot, the HCPC fully implemented its new model for quality assuring educational providers and programmes. The work of a service user expert within the process is intended to ensure that the patient voice is considered when decisions are made.
• We had no concerns about the time taken to process UK applications to join the register, however the HCPC did not process international applications to join the register quickly enough. The HCPC saw a significant increase in the number of applications it received, but it did not respond to the increase in international applications effectively and this had a serious impact on applicants. The lengthy time taken by the registration department to answer phone calls and emails also affected people’s ability to obtain information about registration. We therefore determined that Registration Standard 11 was not met.
• The HCPC has made significant progress in delivering a number of projects designed to improve its fitness to practise processes following our serious concerns from our audit in 2020 about the quality and timeliness of this part of its work. We have seen evidence of improvement in case progression and decision-making. We will be auditing the process next year but, while acknowledging the work the HCPC has been doing, cannot yet say that the relevant fitness to practise Standards are met.