The Health & Care Professions Council have launched a consultation on proposed changes to the fees they charge registrants and applicants. They are proposing a 20% increase starting in July 2023. This would impact occupational therapists from August 2023 when the next renewal period for the profession begins.
The HCPC have said that their proposals aim to ensure their future financial sustainability and are underpinned by careful financial analysis of what is necessary for them to continue to meet its statutory objective and protect the public.
Commenting on the proposed changes, our Director of Movement Building and Membership, Karin Bishop said:
“Although we understand some of the rationale for why HCPC are proposing to increase fees, we strongly oppose this double the rate of inflation change. Occupational therapists’ pay has not increased by the same proportion and an increase of this size will be severely detrimental to our professional workforce. It will do nothing to attract more people to occupational therapy and other Allied Health Professions (AHPs), that are experiencing low staffing levels, and will be another pressure for AHPs who are already being squeezed by the cost of living crisis. We urge the HCPC to think again.”
We encourage you to take part in this consultation. You can do that in two ways – by contacting HCPC directly and contributing to our response. We’re now consulting with members to form our response and would like to hear from you by 1 December 2022.
Information about the proposals and details of a series of webinars for registrants during the consultation can be found on the HCPC website. The consultation will close at 23:59 on Thursday 15 December 2022.