Reviewing the standards of conduct, performance and ethics

The consultation to review the standards of conduct, performance and ethics is now open

The standards of conduct, performance and ethics (SCPEs) are an essential set of standards for all our stakeholders – from registrants and service users to education providers and trade unions. They are also essential to the work of HCPC as a regulator.

The Standards are important because they:

set out, in general terms, how we expect our registrants to behave;
outline what the public should expect from their health and care professional;
help us to make decisions about the character of professionals who apply to our Register, and
are used if someone raises a concern about a registrant’s practice: when things go wrong, they help us to decide whether it is necessary to take action.

Reviewing the standards

We regularly review the SCPEs to make sure they are relevant to current practice, and can be clearly understood by those who use them.

The latest review of the Standards began in May 2022.

The stages of the review are:

A pre-consultation period
A formal consultation on the ten standards and the guidance on social media
A separate review on the guidance and online materials that we publish alongside the standards

Pre-consultation period

During the pre-consultation period we ran workshops with different stakeholder groups and a survey that any stakeholder could feed into. Through these, we gathered insight about how individuals use the Standards, what they think of them, and what changes the Standards may need. If you missed the workshops, you can watch a live recording below.

Formal consultations

The consultation on the proposed revised Standards and guidance began on 27 March 2023. We will support this with a series of workshops and intend to publish the updated Standards in September 2023. A year-long implementation period will follow and bring the Standards into effect in September 2024.

The proposed revisions fall under five key themes:

equality diversity and inclusion;
communication with colleagues, service users and carers;
duty of candour;
upskilling and training responsibilities; and
managing existing health conditions and disabilities in the workplace.

An additional theme – sustainability in health and care – is also discussed in the consultation to explore future revision to the Standards.

Respond to this consultation and find out more information here.

We encourage responses from all interested parties.

This consultation will close at 23:59 on Friday 16 June 2023.

If you are unable to respond using the online platform, or would like a version in Welsh or in an alternative format, please email consultation@hcpc-uk.org or write to:

Consultation on standards of conduct, performance and ethics
Policy and Standards Department
Health and Care Professions Council,
Park House, 184-186 Kennington Park Road
London, SE11 4BU

Consultation workshops

To support the consultation period, we are hosting six workshops. These workshops will explore each key theme of the consultation and gives you an opportunity to ask questions about the revisions we have made. For more information and to sign-up please see our workshops below: