Health Professions Council
Encyclopedia
The Health Professions Council (HPC) is a statutory regulator of 210,000 health professionals from 15 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 professionals must complete before they can register with the HPC; and maintaining and publishing a Register of health care provider
s who meet pre-determined professional requirements
and standards of practice.
The Health and Social Care Bill 2011
included plans to rename the HPC the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) to reflect the transfer of social work
ers from the General Social Care Council
, which is to be abolished in or after 2012. It 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 HPC 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
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. 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 professionals must complete before they can register with the HPC; and maintaining and publishing a Register of health care provider
Health care provider
A health care provider is an individual or an institution that provides preventive, curative, promotional or rehabilitative health care services in a systematic way to individuals, families or communities....
s who meet pre-determined professional requirements
Healthcare provider requisites
Healthcare provider requisites refer to the regulations used by countries to control the quality of individual healthcare workers practicing in their jurisdictions and to control the size of the health labour market...
and standards of practice.
The Health and Social Care Bill 2011
Health and Social Care Bill 2011
The Health and Social Care Bill 2011 is proposed health care reform legislation introduced in the House of Commons on 19 January 2011. If passed, the Bill would be the most extensive reorganisation of the structure of the National Health Service in England to date. It proposes to abolish NHS...
included plans to rename the HPC the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) to reflect the transfer of social work
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
ers from the General Social Care Council
General Social Care Council
The General Social Care Council is a the regulator of social workers and social work students in England. The GSCC protects the public by requiring high standards of education, conduct and practice of social workers by ensuring that only those who are properly trained and committed to high...
, which is to be abolished in or after 2012. It 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 HPC 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
Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence
The Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence is a UK health regulatory body set up under the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002...
(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
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
.
Professions regulated by the HPC
The HPC regulates 15 health professions. They are:- Arts therapists
- Biomedical scientistBiomedical scientistA biomedical scientist is a scientist trained in biology, particularly in the context of medicine...
s - Chiropodists/podiatrists
- Clinical scientists
- DietitianDietitianDietitians supervise the preparation and service of food, develop modified diets, participate in research, and educate individuals and groups on good nutritional habits. The goals of dietitians are to provide medical nutritional intervention, and to obtain, safely prepare, serve and advise on...
s - Hearing aid dispensers
- Occupational therapistOccupational therapistAn occupational therapist is trained in the practice of occupational therapy. The role of an occupational therapist is to work with a client to help them achieve a fulfilled and satisfied state in life through the use of "purposeful activity or interventions designed to achieve functional...
s - Operating department practitioners
- Orthoptists
- ParamedicParamedicA paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
s - Physiotherapists
- Practitioner psychologists (e.g. Clinical psychologists)
- Prosthetists and orthotistsOrthoticsOrthotics is a specialty within the medical field concerned with the design, manufacture and application of orthoses. An orthosis is an orthopedic device that supports or corrects the function of a limb or the torso...
- Radiographers
- Speech and language therapists