The HCPC “persecutes” but does not have the right to appeal the decisions of the Fitness to Practise Committee – even if it clearly disagrees with them! That`s ridiculous; unfair and unjust. We can help you at this stage compile a response, which may include written comments, a timeline of events leading up to the incident(s) in question, food for thought, character references, evidence of learning, and any steps you have taken to improve your practice, including training and current records. Once they have completed their initial investigation, they assess the concerns and information against the HCPC`s eligibility criteria. The study examined the reasons for the disproportionate number of complaints filed with the Health and Care Professions Council (CHPC) about paramedics and social workers compared to other HCPC professions. The study also looked at what preventive measures could be taken to address the problem. Philip explains that they can find people guilty of dishonesty when there is little evidence, but social workers regularly take children up for adoption based on “future emotional abuse,” something no one can predict, something that doesn`t happen right now and may never happen, but parents lose their children and sometimes children suffer emotional abuse. Because they don`t understand why they left loving parents. There is no evidence of future abuse, just as there is no evidence of dishonesty when parents try to fight, there is no legal aid and no union to foot the bill. So if HCPC makes these bad decisions without evidence, it follows that social workers who use future emotional abuse without evidence are also doing the wrong thing. Using this excuse to take children into care would reduce the workload and social workers could focus on cases where there is real evidence of abuse at this stage of the HCPC`s fitness process, the HCPC will formally inform you in writing of the investigation. It is important to obtain legal advice at this stage. Determining the right approach and strategy at an early stage of the ability to conduct investigations can lead to better outcomes for HCPC registrants. Over a three-month period, out of 68 eligibility hearings, only one was held against a manager for failing to provide adequate support to his staff.
Final hearings that are “unfounded” involve cases where the panel does not conclude at the hearing that the facts meet the required standard or concludes that, even if those facts are presented, they do not constitute the legal ground (e.g., misconduct) or demonstrate that fitness to practise is compromised. In this case, the consultation is closed and no further action is taken (HCPC, 2013, p. 37). David was an experienced CAMHS social worker, qualified in family therapy and specialized in self-injury intervention. He had seen a 15-year-old girl who had repeatedly injured herself and overdosed. He began a slightly unorthodox intervention with the consent of the girl and her mother, telling her that if she continued to hurt herself, she could only do so on the condition that if she did, she would show her mother nursing her wounds and agreeing not to question her. This approach is designed to prioritize the girl`s safety and allow her to express her distress without saying a word. David was confident enough in his decades of experience and good results with service users to perform this intervention, but his employer disagreed. Instead of talking to him or starting an internal process, his employer suspended him and immediately referred him to the HCPC. In the meantime, the intervention had worked and the girl had stopped injuring herself. David waged a legal battle against his employer, which resulted in the allegations not being proven.
But the HCPC continued to prosecute him, revising their allegations twice to create a new aptitude for practice against him, despite his written rebuttals that had stood up in court. “They changed the request along the child protection road, even though my direct supervisor at the local authority was the security development officer, and if there had been any safety or child protection issues, the local authority would certainly have hired me to do it,” he says. “In my opinion, the HCPC is either incompetent or abusive.” The case of fitness to practise is still ongoing. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. Kings View Chambers accepts no responsibility for any action taken or not taken in connection with this article. You should seek appropriate legal advice, taking into account your particular situation. We set standards for the education, professional competence, behaviour, performance, ethics and health of registrants (the professionals registered in our registry); maintain a register of professionals who meet these standards; approve the programs that professionals must complete before they can register with us; and take action when professionals on our registry do not meet our standards (HCPC, 2013, p. 5). Health and Care Professions Council of the United Kingdom (HCPC).
Annual report on professional competence. 2016. www.hcpc-uk.org/globalassets/resources/reports/fitness-to-practise/fitness-to-practise-annual-report-2016.pdf. Retrieved 28. August 2020. Home Insights Blogs Regulatory Blog “Why are so many complaints against paramedics and social workers filed with the HCPC?” Globally, the professional conduct and practice of health professionals is regulated by health regulatory authorities, which set and monitor standards of qualification and practice to ensure safe practice [6].
