An opportunity to join our Council, and help shape the future of healthcare
Health and care professions are at a critical juncture. The COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the need for capable, strong, compassionate, and committed people in our sector to take forward its lessons learned and continue the innovation we have seen come to the fore.
The HCPC’s Council is pivotal to ensuring that innovation is carried through into lasting improvement for our stakeholders. I am therefore pleased to share with you our campaign to find two new lay members of our Council who will play a key part in leading this change while embodying our values of fairness, compassion, inclusivity and innovation.
Being a Council member is a truly rewarding and fascinating role. The successful applicants will gain a unique opportunity to share their opinions and perspectives and help to shape our progress on key issues such as regulatory effectiveness and reform, environmental and financial sustainability, and equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as ensuring that the standards we set for healthcare professionals and the actions we take as a regulator, keep the public safe.
We are in year two of our five-year corporate strategy, which sets out how we will become a high performing, adaptable and caring regulator that ensures public protection through strong, evidence-based regulation. An essential part of the Council member role will be to set goals and strategy, governance and culture, and provide constructive challenge in tandem with support and guidance.
The HCPC is full of talented and dedicated people, with a shared commitment to protecting the public. I have championed the important role the Council has played in the HCPC’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives – in 2021 we became the first healthcare profession regulator to introduce a council apprenticeship scheme for diverse candidates to get a first foot in the door into a non-executive career. We were also the first regulator to move from not meeting, to meeting our regulator’s Equality Standard. I am keen to welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds, particularly candidates from ethnic minorities and those with disabilities, who are currently under-represented at our Council.
While we warmly encourage applicants of strong ability from all backgrounds and experiences, our constitution requires that one of the two new members lives or works in Northern Ireland. This four-country membership of Council helps us to serve the needs of the UK as a whole.
You can find out more about our current members and the work of the Council here
Finally, I would like to thank the two outgoing lay members of our Council, Senior Council Member Eileen Mullan, and Stephen Cohen. Both have been instrumental in shaping the HCPC during their tenure, which has included a period of intense change and challenge due to the pandemic. They have been dynamic and resilient members of the Council, for which I, and the HCPC, will always be grateful.
I look forward to welcoming two new members to a supportive and forward-thinking team of people, to help drive the HCPC forward and deliver on the next phase of our strategy.
Applications are open until 9am on Monday 15 August 2022. More information about the application process and the criteria we’re looking for can be found on our website below.
Chair of the HCPC