What is the Health Professions Council (HPC)?

Abstract

This is an important question that has yet to be adequately answered. The question is a logical one, not a political or rhetorical one. It is important to understand what a new ‘regulator’ is in terms of what it does on a daily basis, and how it organises its resources to accomplish its aims. Without a clear idea of the mechanisms at play it is not possible to predict the consequences of its actions, nor to hold it properly accountable for those consequences. If we only read the statements published by the HPC itself we won't be any wiser. Statements like “We are the Health Professions Council (HPC). We are a regulator and we were set up to protect the public. To do this, we keep a register of health professionals who meet our standards for their professional skills and behaviour” are practically meaningless—we need to have some idea of how these statements are translated into practice, what grounds them in the truth. Much of the HPC publicity stresses the importance of Fitness to Practise hearings, and a...