Regulatory Law
Healthcare Professionals

We handle cases where healthcare professionals are being investigated by their regulatory body, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The HCPC regulates 15 professions throughout the United Kingdom, including arts therapists, biomedical scientists, chiropodists and podiatrists, clinical scientists, dietitians, hearing aid dispensers, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, paramedics, physiotherapists, practitioner psychologists, prosthetists and orthotists, radiographers, and speech and language therapists.

The Regulatory Process

In the United Kingdom, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is responsible for maintaining the professional registers, setting standards of professional conduct and investigating concerns about the fitness to practise of the healthcare professionals it regulates. Where a concern is raised, the HCPC will initially assess whether the matter falls within its jurisdiction and meets the threshold for a formal investigation. If the matter proceeds, a case manager will gather evidence from relevant sources, including employment records, witness statements, clinical records and expert opinions where appropriate. The healthcare professional will normally be notified of the allegations and given 28 days to submit a written response, with extensions available in appropriate circumstances.

Following the investigation, the matter is considered by an independent panel of the HCPC’s Investigating Committee, which determines whether there is a realistic prospect of proving the alleged facts, establishing the relevant statutory ground and demonstrating that the healthcare professional’s fitness to practise is currently impaired. The Committee may decide that there is no case to answer, request further information, or refer the case for a formal hearing. Depending on the nature of the allegations, the matter will be referred to the Conduct and Competence Committee or the Health Committee. Cases involving fraudulent or incorrect entries on the professional register may be determined by a panel of the Investigating Committee.

Where necessary to protect members of the public, otherwise in the public interest, or in the interests of the healthcare professional, an HCPC practice committee may also impose an interim order suspending registration or imposing temporary conditions while the investigation or proceedings continue. Such orders may initially be imposed for up to 18 months, subject to statutory review and extension procedures. Where proceedings have not concluded within that period, an application may be made to the relevant court for an extension.

Formal hearings are conducted by independent panels administered by the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS). Cases involving misconduct, lack of competence, criminal convictions or cautions, determinations by other regulatory bodies, or inclusion on a relevant safeguarding barred list are generally heard by the Conduct and Competence Committee, while cases concerning physical or mental health are heard by the Health Committee. At the hearing, the healthcare professional is entitled to attend, be legally represented, make representations, call witnesses and submit evidence in their defence. The panel will determine whether the factual allegations have been proved on the balance of probabilities and whether the healthcare professional’s fitness to practise is currently impaired.

If the panel determines that fitness to practise is impaired, sanctions may include a caution order lasting between one and five years, conditions of practice for up to three years, suspension from the register for up to 12 months, or a striking-off order removing the healthcare professional from the register. Conditions of practice and suspension orders must be reviewed before they expire and may be extended, varied or replaced where appropriate. Where impairment arises from lack of competence or adverse physical or mental health, a striking-off order cannot be imposed unless the healthcare professional has been continuously subject to a substantive suspension or conditions of practice order for at least two years immediately preceding the decision. Time spent under an interim suspension order does not count towards this period. Where the panel finds the allegations well founded, it may also decide that no further action is necessary in appropriate circumstances. In determining the appropriate sanction, panels have regard to the HCPC’s revised Sanctions Policy, which came into effect on 2 March 2026.

Striking off prevents the healthcare professional from practising in their regulated profession unless and until their registration is restored. A healthcare professional who has been struck off cannot apply for restoration until at least five years have elapsed from the date the order took effect. Restoration is not automatic, and the relevant Committee must be satisfied that the applicant is fit to practise before directing restoration. Applications may be granted subject to conditions of practice or return-to-practice requirements. Only one restoration application may be made within any 12-month period, and following a second or subsequent unsuccessful application, the Committee may suspend indefinitely the right to make further applications, subject to the statutory review provisions.

A healthcare professional may appeal against an appealable decision of the Conduct and Competence Committee or Health Committee to the Court of Session where their registered address is in Scotland, the High Court in Northern Ireland where their registered address is in Northern Ireland, or otherwise to the High Court in England and Wales. Such appeals must be brought within 28 days of the decision being served, and the court has no general power to extend this period. Only in exceptional circumstances, where refusing an extension would impair the very essence of the right of appeal, may the court permit an appeal outside the statutory deadline. Interim orders may also be challenged before the relevant court. Appeals against certain Investigating Committee decisions concerning fraudulent or incorrect registration are made to the county court, or to the sheriff in Scotland, rather than through the usual fitness to practise appeal procedure.

In addition, the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) has the power to refer certain decisions of the HCPC’s fitness to practise panels to the relevant court where it considers that the outcome is insufficient to protect the public. For appealable decisions, the PSA generally has 40 days beginning with the last day of the registrant’s appeal period to make a referral. For qualifying decisions against which no statutory appeal is available, the period is generally 56 days from the date notification of the decision was served. Consequently, even where a healthcare professional receives a relatively lenient sanction, the decision may subsequently be challenged and a more severe outcome may result.

Internal Disciplinary Proceedings

We also assist and represent healthcare professionals where they are the subject of internal disciplinary proceedings by their employer.

What To Do If Regulatory Proceedings Are Commenced Against You

Should internal disciplinary proceedings or HCPC regulatory proceedings be commenced against you, then please either telephone us on 0333 301 0700, or complete our questionnaire.