Our legislation and rules

From Monday 02 December 2019 following the transfer of Social Workers to Social Work England, our legislation has been renamed and will be known as the Health Professions Order (2001). There is no change to the content of the Order as this part of the former Health and Social Work Professions Order remain unchanged.

The HCPC's powers in respect of fitness to practise are set out in Part V of the Health Professions Order 2001.

They are supplemented by the Panel rules, statutory procedural rules made by the HCPC under that Order and HCPC policies key issues, such as its Sanctions Policy. In addition, there is a suite of Practice Notes to which Panels should have regard.

Appeal provisions are set out in Part VI of the Health Professions Order 2001.

The legislation and rules are available as PDFs from our publications section.

COVID-19 and the Pandemic

The Health and Care Professions Council has been granted emergency power to enable us to carry out our statutory functions during the pandemic. A copy of the emergency rules can be found here.

The current pandemic necessitates that hearings should be undertaken in such a way as to minimise the risk of transmission of COVID-19, avoid any unnecessary delays and ensure that public protection is upheld.

In our HCPTS Remote Hearing Guidance document we set out our approach to holding hearings during the pandemic.