Did you know the HCPC standards of proficiency have been updated?

This reflects the importance of you being an autonomous and caring professional. The active wording makes clear the expectations of you, and asks you to demonstrate rather than just understand the HCPC SoPs that apply to you. 

You should consider whether you are actively implementing all the HCPC's SoPs and assess yourself against them.

You are part of a larger healthcare system and play an important role in promoting good health in your profession that will support your colleagues in other professions. 

You may already take this approach and there’s not a one-size-fits-all solution to everyone’s health needs. That being said it may be worth considering what advice, referrals or other interventions you could recommend which may not be directly connected to OT, and include them in your notes and reflections.

As we have been intensifying our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Belonging (EDB), the HCPC is also committed to ensuring that you can provide healthcare to all those you work with. 

The changes being made strengthen the EDI requirements that already existed in the SoPs. 

The new requirements ask you to proactively think about how you can make care as accessible as possible, taking into consideration adjustments that may be required for protected characteristics. 

How the health professions understand consent has been evolving and the new standards ask you to take a wider range of circumstances into account when determining consent. HCPC's SoPs on confidentiality have also been strengthened and consider the impact of new technology. 

Under the new update you must be especially mindful of the needs of those living with a disability or a health condition which impacts their ability to communicate. You’ll need to consider and document what additional steps you can take to keep someone fully involved in their care or, where that’s not possible, their carer, family member, and/or representative.

The update asks you to think about your own mental health and seek help where necessary as part of your fitness to practise. 

If your health, mental or physical, is impacting your ability to practise safely then you should not be currently practising. It is important you proactively manage and understand your mental health. 

You may want to consider including wellness goals in your personal reflections and notes. You may also be interested in our short wellbeing sessions we held at our 2022 Annual Conference.

You will be expected to keep up with new ways of working in our profession. This doesn’t mean being able to use all the technology OTs have access to, but you should understand the pieces that are relevant to your field and be confident in considering the impact it has on those you work with. This is particularly important in relation to data confidentiality. 

You may find it helpful to make tech a big part of your CPD going forward. 

Much like the first of these changes, this point focuses on you as an autonomous professional who can display leadership without being in a management role. 

Leadership means different things to different roles, but demonstrating how you display leadership qualities will be important. The HCPC will be developing some online materials but you may also be interested in our leadership forum.