HCPC investigations and Conduct and Competence Committee proceedings

If the HCPC receives a complaint about a health and care professional, then it will investigate that complaint. There are various stages at which a complaint may be closed. If the HCPC decides to proceed with an investigation, you will be notified.

A HCPC Registrant must notify the HCPC as soon as possible if:

• They accept a caution from the police or have been charged with, or found guilty of, a criminal offence;
• Another regulator has taken action or made a finding against them; or
• They have had any restriction placed on their practice, or been suspended or dismissed by an employer, because of concerns about their conduct or competence.

This is in accordance with Standard 9.5 of the HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics. A failure to notify will likely result in fitness to practise proceedings. It is important to seek legal advice about this as soon as possible.

Triage

If the HCPC receives a concern about a health and care professional’s fitness to practise, then it will firstly consider whether the concern is within its remit to investigate. This assessment takes place during their triage stage.

Threshold

If the HCPC considers the concern is within its remit, it will then carry out an initial investigation to obtain the relevant information about the concern. Once it has completed its initial investigation, it will assess the concern and the information obtained against its threshold criteria for fitness to practise investigations. This is to decide whether the concern and information amounts to a concern that the Registrant’s fitness to practise may be impaired.

Investigating committee

If the concern meets the threshold criteria, the case will be referred to the Investigating Committee. If this happens, the Registrant will be notified of the referral and the allegations being made against them. They will have the opportunity to respond (in writing) to the allegations. The Investigating Committee meets in private (meaning there is no hearing) and decides on the papers whether there is enough evidence that the Registrant has a case to answer. They decide whether it is likely that a Registrant’s fitness to practise is likely to be found to be impaired by a Final Hearing Panel based on the evidence before it.

The Investigating Committee may decide:

• That there is no case to answer. The case will be closed and that will be the end of the matter;
• That it needs further information to be able to make a decision. The case will be referred back to the HCPC to carry out further investigation, following which the matter will come before the Investigating Committee again (which is likely to be made up of a different Panel);
• That there is a case to answer. The case will be referred to either the Conduct or Competence Committee or the Health Committee for a Final Hearing

Final Hearing

If the Investigating Committee decides there is a case to answer, the matter will be passed to one of the HCPC’s solicitor firms to carry out further investigation. Once it has completed its investigation, a Final Hearing date will be set. The HCPC’s solicitors will serve their bundle of evidence on the Registrant, and the Registrant will have time to consider this and respond.

The Final Hearing usually takes place in public. The HCPC will present its case, following which the Registrant has the opportunity to present their case. The Panel will consist of three members; one lay member, one member of that profession and one Chair (who could be either a lay member or a member of the profession). After hearing the evidence, the Panel will make a decision on the following:

1. Whether the facts alleged by the HCPC have been proven;
2. If so, whether they amount to misconduct, lack of competence or a health concern (“the statutory ground”); and
3. If so, whether that means the Registrant’s fitness to practise is currently impaired.

The HCPC has to prove its case to the civil standard, namely ‘on a balance of probabilities’.

Sanctions

If the Panel decides that the HCPC has proven all or some of the facts, they amount to one or more of the statutory grounds and the Registrant’s fitness to practise is currently impaired, it will go on to decide the appropriate sanction. Possible sanctions include:

• No action
• Caution
• Conditions of practice
• Suspension
• Strike off

Interim Orders

A Panel can impose an interim order on a Registrant where it considers that such an order is:

• Necessary for protection of the public;
• Otherwise in the public interest; and/or
• In the interests of the Registrant concerned.

An interim order can be imposed at any point during the fitness to practise proceedings, and the primary concern for the Panel will be managing risk the Registrant may pose should they be permitted to continue practising unrestricted. A Registrant may be suspended or subject to conditions of practice if an interim order is imposed.

If you are facing a regulatory investigation or prosecution, early legal advice could make all the difference. Whether you are in London or across England and Wales, contact one of our specialist regulatory defence solicitors to arrange a confidential consultation.

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