Update on our work with the Health and Care Professions Council

The group considers ways to facilitate an effective working relationships between the society and the HCPC to benefit practitioner psychologists and the public.

Practitioner psychologist renewals – window opens 1 March until 31 May

Practitioner psychologists who are registered with the HCPC will need to renew their registration.  HCPC registered psychologists are required to renew their registration every two years during a single window.  The window for renewal for psychologists will run from 1 March until 31 May.

It's important that anyone registered with the HCPC who is intending to maintain this status completes their renewal successfully and on time so that they can continue to practise as a practitioner psychologist for the next two-year cycle.

Ahead of the renewal window, the HCPC advises all registered psychologists to ensure that their email address and contact details are correct in their HCPC online account, and to set a reminder not to leave it until the last minute.

You can renew via your HCPC online account from 1 March 2023.

Each time you renew your registration, you'll be asked to sign a form to confirm that you continue to meet the HCPC's standards, including those for CPD. At renewal the HCPC selects 2.5 per cent of registrants and asks them to submit their CPD profiles. If you are selected for audit, you should be notified within 10 working days of the renewal window opening.

HCPC standards of proficiency

The HCPC standards of proficiency (SOPs) have been updated, with the new versions going live for all registrants from 1 September 2023. There is a section on the HCPC website highlighting the changes made, and we will be ramping up communications throughout 2023 to ensure all registrants and stakeholders are aware of the new SOPs by the time they are fully implemented for all.

Professional bodies are asked to please ensure members know of the change, and to feed back any issues directly to us. More details on events and promotion of the new standards will be sent shortly, and we also have a series of webinars highlighting various aspects of the standards, which will shortly be published online. Again, please do share these with your networks.

BPS continued involvement in HCPC staff induction and development

The final in a series of CPD sessions for HCPC staff to brief them about the society and each of the domains of practitioner psychologists comes to an end later this month. The webinars have improved HCPC's staff understanding of the work and context of applied psychology.  They have been well attended and feedback has been very positive indeed.

Fitness to practise (FtP)

The society continues to support a small number of members related to difficulties with FtP.  We have highlighted long delayed cases, administrative errors and sought clarification on process. Additionally the society was asked by the Professional Standards Authority to provide input to its performance review, which can be found on the 2022 page of this document.

HCPC FtP sanctions

For the period October 2017 to September 2022, the HCPC applied 109 sanctions against practitioner psychologists. 

These were either a caution, suspension or interim suspension order.

BPS contribution to the Professional Standards Authority's performance review of the HCPC 2022/3

The society highlighted the challenges faced by members in the FtP process and international applicants trying to register with the HCPC.  The full response can be found online.

HCPC English language proficiency

The HCPC will soon be beginning work on their approach to assessing their English language proficiency for those entering the register via the international route. HCPC's current approach can be found online, and this statement commits to reviewing these arrangements and holding a consultation. Further details of this work will be shared in the coming months, and professional bodies will play a key role in early engagement on this issue.

HCPC standards of conduct, performance and ethics

The consultation on the HCPC's standards of conduct, performance and ethics (SCPEs) should begin in late March, and run for 12 weeks. The HCPC is very keen to work closely with professional bodies on this topic, before, during and after the consultation itself. More details will be shared in due course on how we can engage directly in this work.

We continue to meet with HCPC colleagues on a regular basis and raise matters that have been drawn to our attention by members. 

Please do contact us if there are areas of improvement we can work on with the HCPC.