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The Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service is now operational

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Date: 21 Rhagfyr 2017 10:21

Today marks the launch of the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS).


What is the HCPTS?

The HCPTS is the hearings service of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Although not a separate organisation to the HCPC, it reinforces the role separation by providing a distinct identity to highlight that the adjudication of FTP allegations is undertaken at arm’s length from the HCPC, by independent panels.

What does the change mean?

The establishment of the HCPTS ensures a high degree of independent decision making by FTP panel members and enables transparency in the independent appointment of decision-makers.

Although the HCPTS operates in the same way, it has enhanced separation, new governance arrangements and dedicated services. Below are some of the key features of the HCPTS.

  • New Tribunal Centre – We have a dedicated Tribunal Centre in Kennington, South London. Our Tribunal Centre is fully accessible and our hearing rooms have a range of resources that can facilitate the logistical and technical needs for our hearing participants. Our hearing rooms are equipped with video conferencing and teleconferencing facilities. We also have a separate private video conferencing room that connects to the main hearing rooms, which helps to facilitate the needs of our most vulnerable hearing participants.
  • The Tribunal Advisory Committee (TAC) – The TAC is a non-statutory committee of the HCPC. The TAC’s main role is to advise the Council on the recruitment, training and assessment of Tribunal panellists, panel chairs and legal assessors. The TAC is also responsible for issuing guidance to the Tribunal on practice and procedure.
  • HCPTS website – We've launched a new website for the HCPTS. This now contains all information on upcoming hearings, decisions from recent hearings, legislation, general information and guidance.
  • New logo and brand – We have created a new logo and brand which utilises elements of the HCPC whilst providing a distinct identity to highlight the separation between the investigation and the adjudication of the hearings function.

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