Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (Standard 3)
The HCPC continues to meet Standard 3, our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Standard. 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 (FTP) 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 (SCPEs)
Guidance and Standards
The HCPC has updated its standards of proficiency (effective from 1 September 2023), and its standards of conduct, performance and ethics (effective from 1 September 2024). We are satisfied that the HCPC maintains up-to-date standards for registrants which prioritise patient and service user care and safety.
Fitness to Practise
The HCPC continued to embed a number of projects designed to improve its FTP 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 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.
What we will be monitoring
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 in our report, we will monitor the implementation of the HCPC's 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.