Spring brings new growth for the Health Professions Council

Citation

(2003), "Spring brings new growth for the Health Professions Council", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 33 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2003.01733eab.010

Spring brings new growth for the Health Professions Council

Spring brings new growth for the Health Professions Council

The Health Professions Council (HPC) today announced a substantial increase in the number of registrants, and the first of the new professions expected to join the register. The total number of health professionals on the HPC register is now 144,068, an increase of over 5,000 health professionals from this time last year.

In addition, the latest figures show that the UK registration department is currently taking an average of 285 calls per day. The number of phone calls to the HPC is increasing month on month, as the organisation becomes more active and raises its profile, becoming better known to the public and registrants.

The number of registrants may rise still more, after a decision taken at the last Council meeting. During this meeting, on 2 April, the Council voted to recommend to the Secretary of State that the Operating Department Practitioners be the first new profession to be regulated by the Council. The Council hopes that the first operating department practitioners may join the register in a years time.

This was announced during the Council's official launch in Edinburgh on 9 April. The Council's new rules for regulation will be laid before Parliament on 14 April, and it is expected that the Council will begin operating under its new rules on 1 June.

Norma Brook, President of the HPC, said, "This is an exciting time of change and growth here at the Health Professions Council as we prepare to operate under our new rules."

"A higher number of registered health professionals means that the public is even better protected. We are delighted to welcome new registrants on board to join us as we work towards our aim of being the best-managed, best-run regulatory body in the UK."

The HPC is a new regulator, set up to protect the health and wellbeing of people using the services of the health professionals it registers.

The health professionals the HPC regulates at the moment are: arts therapists, biomedical scientists, chiropodists/podiatrists, clinical scientists, dietitians, occupational therapists, orthoptists, prosthetists and orthotists, paramedics, physiotherapists, radiographers, and speech and language therapists.

For further information contact: Rachel Tripp, PR/Events Assistant, Health Professions Council. Tel: 020 7840 9760; e-mail: rachel.tripp@hpc-uk.org; Web site: www.hpc-uk.org