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Advice for employers and managers

In light of the latest Government advice, we have reviewed these pages
Please keep checking the hub for the latest advice

We continue to provide as much up-to-date information and support to facilitate you and your employees in managing this challenging time.

This includes information on the temporary register, details about our expectations of registrants in relation to the standards during the COVID-19 pandemic, and contact details for our professional liaison lead should you have any questions.

Healthy professionals are vital to ensure service users receive good care, and so we will continue to provide as much support as we can around infection control and mental health and wellbeing.

Managing HCPC registrants during the COVID-19 pandemic

About the COVID-19 temporary register

  • In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HCPC has worked with the UK Government to create a COVID-19 temporary register. 

    Our intention in doing so is to ensure there are no regulatory barriers to the following two groups practising on a temporary basis:

    • Former registrants who have de-registered within the last three years.
    • Third year biomedical science and clinical science students, on UK approved programmes, who have completed all their clinical practice placements.
  • We have ensured nobody appears on this list who has been subject to fitness to practise concerns in the past.

  • We have also decided to exclude annotations on the COVID-19 temporary register(s).

    This means registrants on the COVID-19 temporary register will not be able to practice in high-risk areas, such as prescribing or podiatric surgery.

    This may however be subject to change, and we will continue to monitor developments to ensure this continues to be an appropriate approach.

  • COVID-19 temporary registrants who go back into practice will need to meet the Standards of conduct, performance and ethics and the standards of proficiency for your profession (as far as they relate to your scope of practice).

    They will not need to meet our standards for CPD, nor will they be subject to CPD audit. This reflects that registration is a temporary, short term measure. However, they should take all steps possible to ensure their skills, knowledge and experience are kept up to date when practising. We have provided more information about this here

    The HCPC standards will only apply to people on the COVID-19 temporary Register if they return to practice. If they do not return to practice, the HCPC standards will not apply to them in their personal life.

    Please note, the COVID-19 temporary register should not be read as a list of professionals ready to enter practice, or who are in any way verified to be meeting the standards and safe to return. It is the responsibility of the individual and prospective employer to determine this, based on their individual circumstances.

  • If you have a concern about a COVID-19 temporary registrant, please email ftp@hcpc-uk.org. There is additional guidance on raising a concern available on our website.

    Please note, due to the nature of the register, and the increased risks involved, any concern raised which meets our Triage test (as explained in our Threshold Policy) will result in removal from the Register with immediate effect.

    We would encourage employers to read the guidance we have issued on COVID-19 temporary registrants and the standards. In particular, this sets out our positon regarding a COVID-19 temporary registrant’s scope of practice and how we will consider the standards if a concern is raised.

Page updated on: 27/03/2020
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