The complete guide for the 15 HCPC-regulated professions: how a concern is triaged and investigated, your 28-day response, the Investigating Committee Panel, interim orders, consent, HCPTS final hearings, the 2 March 2026 sanctions policy, and how to build insight and remediation evidence that panels can weigh.
Choose one to see what it means, what to do next and the course that fits.
Select your stage to see where to start.
HCPC fitness to practise is the Health and Care Professions Council's process for deciding whether a registered professional has the skills, knowledge, character and health to practise safely and effectively, and for taking action where they do not. It is not designed to punish past mistakes. It asks whether your fitness to practise is impaired today, and what, if anything, is needed to protect the public.
The HCPC uses one phrase to describe the standard: registrants "must have the skills, knowledge, character and health to practise their profession safely and effectively." A concern is information to be tested, not a finding. The sequence is always: concern, triage, investigation, Investigating Committee Panel, final hearing, outcome, and most cases close well before the end.
The most important thing to understand about the HCPC is that the question is about the present. A panel looks at what happened, but decides on current impairment: the risk of repetition, whether you have insight, what you have done to remediate, and whether public confidence needs a finding. That is why the work you do from the day you receive the first letter matters so much.
An employer investigation asks whether you should keep a job. HCPC fitness to practise asks whether you should remain on the Register, and on what terms. The two use different decision-makers, different tests and different outcomes. An employer may dismiss someone the HCPC later finds fit to practise, and a professional with a clean employment record can still face HCPC action. Local learning completed through your employer often carries real weight with the HCPC, so keep a record of it.
Figures from the HCPC Fitness to Practise Annual Report 2024–25 (year to 31 March 2025).
The HCPC regulates 15 professions under protected titles. If you use one of these titles in the UK, you must be on the HCPC Register, and the same fitness to practise process applies to all of them, with the same standards of conduct, performance and ethics.
Concern rates differ by profession. In 2024–25 the highest rates per 1,000 registrants were:
Concerns per 1,000 registrants. HCPC Fitness to Practise Annual Report 2024–25.
Social workers in England moved from the HCPC to Social Work England in December 2019. Social workers in Scotland are regulated by the SSSC, in Wales by Social Care Wales and in Northern Ireland by NISCC. Older HCPC decisions about social workers still appear online, which is a common source of confusion.
Anyone can search the online Register by name or registration number. Cautions, conditions of practice and suspensions are shown against a registrant's entry for the period set by the order, and final hearing decisions are published by the HCPTS. Interim orders are also shown while in force.
The Health Professions Order 2001 sets out the grounds on which fitness to practise may be impaired. Every HCPC allegation is built on one or more of them, and knowing which ground applies tells you what a panel will be looking for.
"Behaviour that falls short of what can reasonably be expected of a professional." Dishonesty, boundaries, discrimination, confidentiality breaches and conduct outside work all sit here.
"Lack of knowledge, skill and judgement, usually repeated and over a period of time." Usually supported by audits, assessments or a pattern of errors.
For a criminal offence in the UK, or an equivalent offence elsewhere. The conviction itself is proof of the facts; the panel decides impairment.
"Usually a long-term, untreated or unacknowledged condition." Having a condition is not itself an impairment. Health cases are usually heard in private.
An adverse determination by another health or social care regulator, in the UK or abroad, that the registrant's fitness to practise is impaired.
A separate route deals with fraudulent or incorrect entry to the Register, for example a false declaration on an application. In 2024–25, two registrants were removed following a fraudulent entry finding.
The current standards of conduct, performance and ethics took effect on 1 September 2024. They are the yardstick for most misconduct allegations: the HCPC usually frames a concern by reference to the standards it says were not met. Pick a standard below to see what it covers, the concerns it typically engages, and the course that maps to it.
Select a standard.
Standards of proficiency are profession-specific and describe what a safe and effective practitioner of your profession must know, understand and be able to do. The current versions took effect on 1 September 2023 and are the benchmark in most lack of competence cases.
Standards of continuing professional development apply to everyone on the Register (see CPD audit). The HCPC also publishes guidance on confidentiality, consent, social media and the duty of candour that fleshes out the standards.
If the events happened before 1 September 2024, the previous standards may be the benchmark for the allegation, but your current practice and remediation should reflect the 2024 version.
Every HCPC case moves through the same stages, although most close before a hearing. Here is the full route, with what happens and what matters most for you at each point.
The HCPC first checks whether the concern is about someone on its Register and whether it is a fitness to practise matter at all. Concerns solely about customer service, employment issues or fees are outside its remit. In 2024–25, 2,044 of 2,409 concerns met the triage stage.
The HCPC applies its threshold policy (updated July 2025) to decide whether the concern could amount to impaired fitness to practise. It looks at risk to the public, public confidence, honesty and integrity, patterns and previous concerns. Remediation evidence counts here (see below).
A case manager gathers evidence: records, statements, employer reports and any expert opinion. You are told about the concern and may be asked for information, often including your employer's details.
The HCPC drafts formal allegations and sends them with the evidence. You have 28 days to respond, and extensions are possible in some circumstances. This response goes to the Investigating Committee Panel.
A panel meets in private, on the papers, and decides whether there is a case to answer. It can also ask for more information before deciding.
Cases with a case to answer go to the Conduct and Competence Committee or the Health Committee, run by the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service. Some resolve by consent first.
The panel decides the facts, the ground, impairment and any sanction. Conditions and suspensions are reviewed before they expire. Appeals go to the High Court or Court of Session.
Where a concern is serious, the HCPC can apply for an interim order at any point in the process to restrict or suspend practice while the case continues. An interim order is not a finding. See interim orders.
The threshold policy is the HCPC's filter for deciding which concerns become full fitness to practise investigations. It asks whether the information amounts to an allegation that fitness to practise may be impaired, weighing:
If there is evidence that a registrant "has undergone retraining, learning or a period of performance supervision", the HCPC may decide the registrant no longer presents a risk and the threshold is not met.
Serious concerns can still go forward in the public interest. But for many clinical, communication and record-keeping concerns, documented learning completed early is exactly the kind of evidence the policy describes.
In 2024–25, 949 cases closed before reaching the Investigating Committee.
Your written response to the allegations is the single most important document you control. The Investigating Committee Panel reads it alongside the HCPC's evidence, and it is often your first opportunity to show insight. Take advice from your union, professional body or a regulatory solicitor before you send it.
Identify the facts, the ground and the standard each one relies on.
Clear, specific admissions where the facts are right carry weight.
Records, rotas, emails and witness details.
Staffing, supervision and systems, alongside your own part.
The impact on service users, colleagues and trust in your profession.
Courses, reflection, supervision, audits and feedback, with dates.
From people who know the concern and have seen your current practice.
Write once calm, and ask someone to read it first.
Ask early, with reasons, rather than send something rushed.
Health, disability or neurodiversity adjustments.
The ICP meets in private and decides on the papers, without witnesses. It asks whether there is a realistic prospect that, at a final hearing, the HCPC would prove the facts, that those facts would amount to the statutory ground, and that fitness to practise would be found impaired. All three parts must be met.
711 ICP decisions in 2024–25. HCPC Fitness to Practise Annual Report 2024–25.
Is there a realistic prospect the HCPC could prove what is alleged? Your evidence on disputed facts matters most here.
Would the facts amount to misconduct, lack of competence or another statutory ground? Minor lapses may not reach that level.
Is fitness to practise realistically likely to be found impaired today? Insight and remediation speak directly to this.
A "case to answer" is not a finding against you: it means the case goes forward to a final hearing, where the facts are tested properly. It is also the point where the HCPC may raise consent or discontinuance, and where your remediation work has the most time left to build before a hearing.
An interim order restricts or stops practice while a case continues. It is a protective step, not a finding that the allegations are true. A panel may impose one where it is:
There are two types: an interim conditions of practice order and an interim suspension order. An order can last up to 18 months. It is reviewed six months after it is imposed and every three months after that, and the HCPC must apply to the High Court (or Court of Session) to extend it, by up to 12 months at a time. You can ask for an early review if your circumstances change.
The HCPC tries to give seven days' notice of an interim order hearing, and you can attend and be represented. Evidence of current safe practice, supervision and learning is directly relevant to whether conditions would be enough.
Not every case with a case to answer needs a contested hearing. The HCPC has three routes that can resolve a case earlier.
Where you accept the allegations and that your fitness to practise is impaired, you and the HCPC can agree a proposed order, such as a caution or conditions, which a panel must approve. In 2024–25 there were 3 cautions, 3 suspensions and 1 striking-off order by consent.
A registrant who does not intend to practise again can agree to be removed from the Register on agreed terms, similar in effect to a striking-off order. In 2024–25, 13 registrants were removed by consent.
If the evidence changes so that the HCPC can no longer prove its case, it can apply to a panel to discontinue all or part of the allegations.
A strong remediation record makes consent realistic: the HCPC needs to be satisfied that the agreed order protects the public, and evidence of insight and learning is what shows a lesser order is enough.
Final hearings are run by the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS), the HCPC's adjudication arm. A panel usually has three members: a chair, a registrant from your profession and a lay member, advised by a legal assessor. Hearings take place in person or remotely.
Hears misconduct, lack of competence, conviction and other-regulator cases. Hearings are normally in public, although parts involving health or private matters can be heard in private.
Hears cases where the concern is about physical or mental health. These are usually heard in private, and the focus is on managing the condition safely.
Impairment has two parts. The personal part looks at you: insight, remediation and the risk of repetition. The public part asks whether a finding is needed to uphold standards and confidence in your profession. Strong personal evidence can resolve the first; for serious misconduct, the second can still require a finding.
If fitness to practise is impaired, the panel starts with the least restrictive option and moves up only as far as is needed to protect the public. The HCPC's revised sanctions policy took effect on 2 March 2026.
Mediation is not a sanction and is used only where it adequately protects the public. No further action needs clear justification once impairment is found.
Does not restrict practice. Appears on the Register for its duration. Suits isolated, low-risk lapses with good insight.
You keep practising with requirements such as supervision, training or restrictions. Reviewed before expiry.
Stops practice entirely for the period. Reviewed before expiry, when the panel looks at what you have done in the meantime.
Removal from the Register. For competence or health cases, only available after at least two years continuously under conditions or suspension.
The revised policy gives panels clearer guidance in three areas: discrimination, professional boundary breaches and sexually motivated misconduct. In each, panels are now told they are more likely to impose a more restrictive sanction, and must give clear reasons if they do not. It also reflects recent case law and HCPTS practice notes.
The policy recognises that cultural factors, neurodiversity and lived experience can affect whether and how someone apologises, and it confirms that an apology is not an admission of legal liability.
215 final hearings concluded. HCPC Fitness to Practise Annual Report 2024–25.
| Factors that reduce seriousness | Factors that increase seriousness |
|---|---|
| An isolated act | A pattern of behaviour |
| No harm to service users | Harm to service users, especially vulnerable people |
| A genuine error | Dishonesty or breach of trust |
| Insight | Lack of insight |
| Remorse and apology | Discrimination, boundary breaches or sexual misconduct |
| Remediation | Lack of remediation |
Summarised from the HCPC sanctions policy (2 March 2026). The two highlighted rows are the ones you can influence directly from now on.
The HCPC sanctions policy defines insight as "a registrant's genuine understanding and acceptance of the concerns which have been raised in relation to their conduct or competence". It is typically shown through:
Where insight is present, the policy says the risk of repetition is "significantly lower". Remediation "involves a registrant taking steps to address any concerns that have been raised about their conduct, competence or health", and panels are told to remain "open to the variety of remediation evidence" a registrant submits.
The strongest portfolios combine several: learning that targets the concern, a written reflection linking it to what happened, and evidence from a supervisor or colleague that practice has changed and stayed changed.
| Concern | Targeted learning | Reflection | Practice evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record keeping | Documentation Professionalism | Reflection on your own audit | Repeat record audit |
| Communication or attitude | Effective Communication | Reflective account | Colleague and service user feedback |
| Clinical error | Clinical Competence and Patient Safety | Root cause reflection | Supervised practice, competency sign-off |
| Confidentiality | Confidentiality in Healthcare | Impact reflection | Information governance check |
| Boundaries | Professional Boundaries | How the drift happened | Supervision discussions over time |
| Dishonesty | Probity and HCPC Ethics | Why it happened, impact on trust | Sustained honest practice, testimonials |
| Discrimination | Dignity and Non-Discrimination | Bias and impact reflection | Feedback, EDI learning over time |
Choose learning that matches your concern. Every course is online and self-paced, awards structured CPD points and a certificate, and includes reflective prompts so you finish with evidence you can put in front of the HCPC, a panel or your employer.
Structured CPD · 2 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 2 CPD ptsThese map directly to the words the HCPC sanctions policy uses. Take them alongside a core course or a topic course.
Structured CPD · 1.5 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 1.5 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 1.5 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 3 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 2 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 1.5 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 1.5 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 1.5 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 2 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 1.5 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 2 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 1.5 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 2 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 2 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 2 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 1.5 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 2 CPD ptsStructured CPD · 2 CPD ptsMore for allied health professionals: HCPC remediation courses · all CPD courses. IRR Practice is an independent education provider; HCPC decisions are made by independent panels on all the evidence.
A portfolio is how insight and remediation become evidence. Panels see many; the ones that carry weight are specific, dated and connected to the concern.
List each allegation against the standard it engages.
A core course plus a topic course for each area.
What happened, the impact, what you now do differently.
Supervision, audits and changed routines.
Testimonials and feedback that name the concern.
Sustained change over months is what panels weigh most.
Conditions of practice and suspension orders are reviewed by a panel before they expire. The reviewing panel asks what has changed: whether you have complied, what you have learned, and whether the risk has reduced. It can revoke, vary, extend or replace the order. Arriving with a clear portfolio of learning, reflection and practice evidence is the best preparation for a review.
You can appeal a final decision to the High Court in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, or the Court of Session in Scotland, normally within 28 days of being notified of the decision. Take legal advice promptly.
A struck-off professional cannot apply for restoration until at least five years after the order. The panel considering restoration looks at current fitness: what you have done since, whether your knowledge is up to date, and whether you have genuine insight into the original concern.
Suspension stops practice but not learning. Structured CPD, reflection and keeping clinical knowledge current during a suspension are exactly what a reviewing panel will ask about. Enrol in Rebuilding Trust
Every HCPC registrant must meet the five standards for continuing professional development. At each renewal, the HCPC randomly selects 2.5% of each profession for audit and asks for a CPD profile showing how you have met the standards.
Each course gives you a dated certificate with CPD points and a reflective prompt, which covers standards 1 and 2. Your reflection on how the learning changed your practice, and what it meant for service users, covers standards 3 and 4.
If you are in a fitness to practise case, the same learning serves both purposes: your CPD profile and your remediation evidence.
If you have worked under another regulator, or are reading guidance written for one, these are the differences that matter most.
| Feature | HCPC | NMC | GMC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professions | 15 allied health and psychology professions | Nurses, midwives, nursing associates | Doctors, PAs and AAs |
| Core standards | Standards of conduct, performance and ethics (2024) | The Code (2018) | Good medical practice (2024) |
| Investigation filter | Threshold policy, then Investigating Committee Panel | Screening, then Case Examiners | Triage, then Case Examiners |
| Hearings body | HCPTS | NMC Fitness to Practise Committee | MPTS |
| Lowest formal sanction | Caution order, 1 to 5 years | Caution order, 1 to 5 years | Warning (at case examiner stage) or conditions |
Read more: NMC fitness to practise · GMC fitness to practise · all UK regulators
Across HCPC cases, the registrants who do best tend to do the same things early and consistently.
The HCPC publishes fitness to practise fact sheets and support information for registrants. Your union or professional body (for example the CSP, RCOT, BDA, College of Paramedics, RCSLT, SoR, BPS or IBMS) can often provide advice and representation. This page is educational and is not a substitute for legal or professional regulatory advice.
It is the Health and Care Professions Council's process for deciding whether a registrant has the skills, knowledge, character and health to practise safely and effectively, and for taking action where their fitness to practise is impaired.
Fifteen: arts therapists, biomedical scientists, chiropodists and podiatrists, clinical scientists, dietitians, hearing aid dispensers, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, paramedics, physiotherapists, practitioner psychologists, prosthetists and orthotists, radiographers, and speech and language therapists.
Not in England. Social workers in England moved to Social Work England in December 2019. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own social work regulators.
Misconduct, lack of competence, a conviction or caution, physical or mental health, and a determination by another health or social care regulator. Fraudulent or incorrect entry to the Register is dealt with separately.
The HCPC received 2,409 new concerns in 2024–25, up from 2,226 the year before. Fewer than 1% of registrants had a concern raised about them.
Anyone, including service users, members of the public, employers, colleagues, the police and registrants themselves. Self-referrals made up 13.2% of concerns in 2024–25.
It is the policy the HCPC uses to decide whether a concern could amount to impaired fitness to practise and so should be investigated. It weighs risk to the public, public confidence, the standards, honesty and integrity, and any pattern of concerns. It was updated in July 2025.
It can help. The threshold policy says that where a registrant has undergone retraining, learning or a period of performance supervision, the HCPC may decide they no longer present a risk. Serious concerns may still be investigated in the public interest.
Usually 28 days from when the HCPC sends you the allegations and evidence. It can extend this in some circumstances, so ask early if you need more time.
What you accept and what you dispute, with evidence; relevant context; a reflection showing insight into the impact; and evidence of remediation such as courses, supervision, audits and testimonials.
A panel that meets in private and decides on the papers whether there is a case to answer, meaning a realistic prospect of proving the facts, the statutory ground and current impairment at a final hearing.
It means the case will go forward to a final hearing. It is not a finding that the allegations are true. In 2024–25, the ICP found a case to answer in 35.5% of its 711 decisions.
A temporary order imposing conditions or suspending practice while a case is investigated, where it is necessary to protect the public, otherwise in the public interest, or in the registrant's interests. It is not a finding.
Up to 18 months, reviewed after six months and then every three months. The HCPC must apply to the High Court or Court of Session to extend it, by up to 12 months.
An agreed outcome where the registrant accepts the allegations and impairment, and a panel approves an order such as a caution or conditions without a contested hearing.
A way for a registrant who does not intend to practise again to be removed by agreement, on terms similar in effect to striking off. Thirteen registrants were removed by consent in 2024–25.
The Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service, which runs HCPC final hearings, interim order hearings and reviews through its Conduct and Competence Committee and Health Committee.
Conduct and Competence Committee hearings are normally public, with private sessions for health or personal matters. Health Committee hearings are usually held in private.
It first decides the facts, then whether they amount to a statutory ground, then whether fitness to practise is impaired today. Impairment has a personal component (insight, remediation, risk of repetition) and a public component (standards and confidence in the profession).
Mediation or no further action in rare cases, a caution order of 1 to 5 years, conditions of practice of up to 3 years, suspension of up to 1 year, or striking off.
The policy that took effect on 2 March 2026 gives clearer guidance on discrimination, professional boundary breaches and sexually motivated misconduct, where more restrictive sanctions are now more likely, and reflects recent case law and HCPTS practice notes.
As a registrant's genuine understanding and acceptance of the concerns raised, typically shown through recognising the concerns, understanding the impact of their actions, and demonstrable empathy for the harm or potential harm caused.
Yes. The HCPC sanctions policy lists courses, training, reflection and CPD among the remediation evidence panels consider. Learning carries most weight when it targets the concern and is supported by reflection and evidence of changed practice.
Start with HCPC Ethics or HCPC Professionalism, which map to the 2024 standards, then add a topic course that matches your concern, such as Documentation, Confidentiality, Probity or Professional Boundaries, and the Insight or Reflection pillar course.
The HCPC sanctions policy states that an apology does not mean the registrant is admitting legal liability, and that cultural factors, neurodiversity and lived experience can affect how someone apologises.
Often, yes. You can dispute specific facts while still reflecting on the area of practice involved, such as how you communicate, record or escalate, and completing learning in that area.
A panel reviews a conditions or suspension order before it expires, looking at compliance, learning, insight and risk. It can revoke, vary, extend or replace the order.
Yes. Final decisions can be appealed to the High Court (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or the Court of Session (Scotland), normally within 28 days.
At least five years after the striking-off order. The panel will look at your current fitness, up-to-date knowledge and insight.
Only if you have been continuously suspended or under conditions of practice for at least two years. The same limit applies to health cases.
At each renewal, the HCPC randomly selects 2.5% of each profession and asks them to submit a CPD profile showing how they meet the five CPD standards.
Yes. Each course gives a dated certificate with CPD points and a reflective prompt, which you can use to show a mixture of relevant learning and its benefit to practice and service users.
In 2024–25 the highest rates per 1,000 registrants were practitioner psychologists (11.5), paramedics (11.1), hearing aid dispensers (8.8), chiropodists and podiatrists (7.9) and arts therapists (6.3).
Cautions, conditions and suspensions are shown on the online Register for the period of the order, and interim orders are shown while in force. Final hearing decisions are published by the HCPTS.
The HCPC often contacts employers as part of an investigation, and conditions may need employer support. Being open with your employer early, with advice, usually helps, and local learning and supervision can form part of your remediation.
This guide is based on the HCPC's published material. IRR Practice is independent; naming the HCPC does not imply endorsement.
HCPC regulatory position, reviewed September 2026. Standards of conduct, performance and ethics (effective 1 September 2024); standards of proficiency (1 September 2023); threshold policy (7 July 2025); sanctions policy (2 March 2026); Fitness to Practise Annual Report 2024–25. Next scheduled review March 2027, or sooner if HCPC policy changes. IRR Practice is an independent healthcare education provider. It is not the HCPC and does not make regulatory decisions.
Whatever stage you are at, the evidence you build from today is what panels weigh. Start with the course that matches your concern, and take independent advice for your case.
Investigations, hearings, CPD and remediation for HCPC registrants.
Writes for IRR Practice on professional standards, fitness to practise, insight, reflection and remediation for UK health and care professionals.
Last reviewed: September 2026