The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is a statutory regulator of 308,000 health and care professionals from 16 professions in the United Kingdom. It was set up in 2003 under the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002, to replace the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine (CPSM). The Council reports its main purpose is to protect the public. It does this by setting and maintaining standards of proficiency and conduct for the professions it regulates. Its key functions include approving education and training programmes which health and care professionals must complete before they can register with the HCPC; and maintaining and publishing a Register of health and care providers who meet pre-determined professional requirements and standards of practice.
On 1 August 2012, the HCPC took over the regulation of social workers in England from the General Social Care Council. To reflect this change, the HPC was renamed the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) to better reflect the increasingly diverse range of professions it regulates. These changes were made by government as part of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The HCPC has also reported it was being accorded new powers to set up voluntary registers for unregulated professions or related professions, including students seeking to enter a regulated or unregulated profession or related occupation.
The work of the HCPC and other health professions regulators in the UK (e.g. General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council, General Dental Council, etc.) is overseen by the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE). Instances of professional misconduct, if an individual provider is found to not meet Council standards, can lead to dismissal from the National Health Service.
Read more about Health And Care Professions Council: Professions Regulated By The HCPC
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