What is fitness to practise?

Raising a concern about a professional on our Register

Information for registrants if a concern has been raised

Information for employers and managers

	When should an employer or manager raise a concern?
	How to raise a concern
	What to expect from us if you raise a concern
	The investigation process - flowchart
	The investigations process - further information
	What happens if previous concerns have been raised about an employee?
	What happens if the case is referred to a hearing?
	What happens if someone else raises a concern about one of my employees?

Information for witnesses

Protection of title

Case studies

Useful links

Guidance and resources

Fitness to practise hearings

Home > Concerns > Information for employers and managers > How to raise a concern

How to raise a concern

If you need to tell us about concerns you have about a registrant, you should fill in an employer referral form. There are two ways to send your filled-in form to us.

1. By post

Securely seal the signed form in an envelope, along with copies of the supporting documents, and send it to:

Fitness to Practise Department
The Health and Care Professions Council
Park House, 184 Kennington Park Road
London, SE11 4BU

You may want to consider using recorded post.

2. By email

Attach a scanned copy of the signed form along with electronic copies of the supporting documents, and email them to ftp@hcpc-uk.org

If you decide not to use the employer referral form, we need the following information from you when you raise a concern. You can send this information to the postal or email address above.

Information about you (and our point of contact for the case, if this is not going to be you)	Name Role Organisation Correspondence address, phone number and email address
Information about the registrant	Name Profession Registration number Work address and home address (if you know it) How long they have been employed by your organisation and in what roles If they are registered with any other body
Information about your concern	A brief summary of what happened and the circumstances leading to it Where the event (or events) took place The date and time period (or both) that the event (or events) took place
Information about witnesses	Details of any witnesses and copies of their statements
Information about the action you have taken	A brief summary of any internal investigation you have carried out Details of any other organisation you have contacted about the matter (for example, another regulator or the police)
Supporting documents (this will depend on the nature of the concern but we are likely to need everything you have considered when making the referral to us)	Internal investigation reports, disciplinary and appeal documents Correspondence between your organisation and the registrant Relevant service-user records If you are reporting that a registrant has been charged, the contact details of the relevant police force If you are reporting a conviction or caution, a copy of a CRB check or a certificate of conviction or caution

Anything you send to us will be copied to the registrant you are referring to us so they can respond. If there is anything you would prefer we did not send to the registrant, you should tell us. However, if it is an important piece of evidence, we may have to send it to the registrant anyway. We will not share any information that might compromise a criminal investigation.

Any information you provide will be used as evidence in proceedings against the registrant. If the case goes as far as a hearing, the details may become public as hearings are usually held in public and the press regularly attend.

Compromise agreements

If you have entered a compromise agreement with the registrant you are referring, you should tell us. We do not need the details of the agreement, but just need to know that one exists. If you have a confidentiality clause in the compromise agreement, it will not prevent us from investigating concerns about the registrant, nor does it prevent you or any witnesses from passing information about the registrant to us. When drafting the agreement you should make clear to the registrant that any confidentiality clause does not apply to information being passed to us.