Our requirements around scope of practice are set out in your professional standards
Your scope of practice is the area or areas of your profession in which you have the knowledge, skills and experience to practise safely and in line with our standards.
As a health and care professional, you must keep within your scope of practice at all times to ensure you are practising safely, lawfully and effectively.
Scope of practice is not just a list of activities and it is not explicitly tied to a pay grade.
We recognise that a registrant’s scope of practice will change over time as their knowledge, skills and experience develop, and that the practice of experienced registrants often becomes more focused and specialised than that of newly registered colleagues. This might be because of specialisation in a certain area or with a particular client group, or a movement into roles in management, education or research. Every time you renew your registration, you will be asked to sign a declaration that you continue to meet the standards of proficiency that apply to your scope of practice.
Your individual scope of practice may mean that you are unable to continue to demonstrate that you meet all of the standards that apply for the whole of your profession.
As long as you make sure that you are practising safely and effectively within your individual scope of practice and do not practise in the areas where you are not proficient to do so, it is unlikely to raise a concern for the HCPC. If you want to extend your scope of practice, you should be certain that you are capable of working lawfully, safely and effectively. This means that you need to exercise professional judgement by undertaking any necessary training or gaining experience, before moving into a new area of practice.
