Emma Taylor

Preliminary Matters
1. At the commencement of the hearing, the Panel determined that it was necessary for the entire hearing to be conducted in private. This direction was made to protect the private life of Service User A. For the same reason that required the hearing to be conducted in private, it is not possible for any detail of the factual circumstances of the case to be included in a public version of the Panel’s determination.

2. At the commencement of the hearing, the Registrant admitted each aspect of particular 1, and the Panel found that particular to be proven on the basis of those admissions. These related to failure to maintain appropriate professional boundaries in relation to Service User A at various times in 2021.

3. At the conclusion of the HCPC’s case, a submission was made on behalf of the Registrant that there was no case for her to answer in respect of particular 2. Particular 2 alleged that aspects of the Registrant’s alleged breaching of appropriate professional boundaries had been sexual in nature. The HCPC conceded that there was no case to answer in relation to particular 2. The Panel exercised its independent judgement in relation to the submission and concluded that there was indeed no case for the Registrant to answer in relation to this aspect.

4. The Panel concluded that the Registrant’s conduct as established by the findings made in relation to particular 1 constituted serious departures from proper professional standards, and that a number of the HCPC’s Standards of conduct, performance and ethics had been breached. The Panel determined that the proven matters amounted to misconduct, the Registrant’s behaviour falling far short of what is required.

5. When the Panel considered the issue of current impairment of fitness to practise, it determined that the Registrant’s fitness to practise is impaired in relation to both the personal and public components. In relation to the former this was demonstrated by partial insight and outstanding work required to further remedy the risk of repetition whilst, regarding the latter, there was a serious concern of undermining public confidence in both the profession of psychology and the regulatory body.

6. After carefully considering multiple factors and weighing both mitigating and aggravating factors, the sanction determined upon by the Panel was the conditions of practice order appearing in the Order below. The Panel was satisfied that this was a necessary but sufficient response that properly addressed the reasons why the Registrant’s fitness to practice continues to be impaired.

Order: The Registrar is directed to annotate the Register to show that for a period of eighteen months from the date that this Order comes into effect, you, Emma Taylor, must comply with the following conditions of practice, namely:

(1) Within 28 days you must identify a single supervisor who is an HCPC registered Practitioner Psychologist for the work you undertake offering personal therapy to clients. You must notify the HCPC within 14 days of the identify and contact details of the supervisor whom you identify.

(2) You must meet with your supervisor not less frequently than monthly to discuss the work you undertake offering personal therapy to clients. For the avoidance of doubt, the meetings can be undertaken by video conferencing.

(3) You must provide your supervisor with a full, unredacted copy of the Panel’s determination.

(4) In relation to the clinical work you discuss with your supervisor, you must provide a summary of clients for whom you are providing one-to-one therapy and sufficient information to enable effective supervision.

(5) Before nominating the supervisor, you must ensure that he or she will be prepared to write on a three-monthly basis a report summarising progress in raising, examining and resolving issues which may affect or challenge professional boundaries and ambiguities, and you must submit to the HCPC the reports you obtain.

(6) You must allow the HCPC to share, as necessary, details about your performance, compliance with, and/or progress under these conditions with your nominated supervisor.

(7) You must undertake personal therapy with a person registered with the HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist not less frequently than once a week for a minimum of six months. The focus of the therapy should be psychodynamic psychotherapy or attachment-based therapy.

(8) Before appointing a personal therapist, you should ensure that he or she will be prepared to write a report providing information which will assist the Reviewing Panel in assessing progress such as your engagement in terms of bringing personal material, openness to considering multiple perspectives and ability to analyse yourself.

(9) You must offer to provide to the personal therapist a full, unredacted copy of the Panel’s determination.

(10) If you take up any employment for which your HCPC registration is required, you must inform the HCPC in writing within 21 days of that fact and provide full details of the employment.

INTERIM ORDER APPLICATION
1. After the Panel announced its decision that the substantive sanction would be that of a conditions of practice order, the Presenting Officer applied for an interim conditions of practice order for a period of 18 months to cover the appeal period. She submitted that the Panel’s decision made in relation to the substantive issues resulted in an interim order being necessary for protection of members of the public and being otherwise in the public interest. In submitting that the order should be made for the maximum period of 18 months, the Presenting Officer argued that if the Registrant did appeal the Panel’s decision, an appeal could take at least that length of time to be finally disposed of. When asked whether the HCPC proposed any particular conditions that should be included in the interim order sought, she stated that she did not have instructions to enable her to make that submission

2. On behalf of the Registrant, Ms Hewitt reminded the Panel that it should be satisfied that an interim order is necessary, and not merely desirable and also workable and proportionate. Given the Panel’s decisions on the substantive issues, it would not be likely that an interim order would be made in the Registrant’s own interests.

Decision
3. The Panel accepted the advice it received in relation to the application. It also had regard to the section entitled, “Interim orders” between paragraphs 133 and 135 of the Sanctions Policy and the HCPTS Practice Note entitled, “Interim Orders”. Accordingly, it was first required to decide whether it had jurisdiction to consider the application. If satisfied that it had jurisdiction, it must then consider whether there were risks that satisfied one or more of the three grounds that could justify the making of an interim order. Those grounds are, (i) that it is necessary for protection of members of the public, (ii) that it is otherwise in the public interest, and (iii) that it is in the interests of the registrant concerned. Furthermore, it is necessary to remember that the default position established by the legislation governing this process is that when a substantive sanction is imposed, there will be no restriction on a registrant’s ability to practise while their appeal rights remain extant. Accordingly, something more than the fact that a substantive sanction has been imposed is required to justify the making of an interim order. The Panel confirms that it has followed this approach.

4. Included in the notice of hearing email sent to the Registrant on 5 March 2025, the following paragraph appeared: “Please note that if the Panel finds that it is necessary to do so, it may also impose an interim order (under Article 31 of the Health Professions Order 2001) at any stage during the hearing. An interim order suspends or restricts a registrant’s right to practise with immediate effect.” The Panel concluded that this afforded the Registrant the opportunity of making representations on the issue of whether an interim order should be made, and therefore provided jurisdiction for the application to be considered by the Panel.

5. For the purposes of the consideration of an interim order, this is an unusual case, and the fundamental reason for that is that the substantive conditions of practice imposed do not restrict the Registrant’s ability to practise, but rather impose positive obligations she is required to comply with so as to lead to a position where the risk of repetition is reduced. It is also relevant to note that the substantive conditions of practice would not come into effect for 28 days even in the event of the Registrant not launching an appeal.

6. In the judgement of the Panel, it would be anomalous to impose a restriction on the way in which the Registrant is permitted to practise by way of interim conditions of practice when no such restriction is imposed by the substantive conditions of practice. Consistent with this view, the Panel does not consider that there are any meaningful or appropriate conditions that can be imposed to cover the initial 28 day period during which it would be open to the Registrant to launch an appeal. However, the Panel is also of the view that were the Registrant to launch an appeal within the 28 day period, in respect of the longer period that would then open up before that appeal would be finally decided, an interim order would be necessary for protection of members of the public and would otherwise be in the public interest. The reasons for that decision are the same as the reasons why the substantive conditions of practice are required.

7. The Panel has therefore decided that an interim order should be imposed, but the conditions imposed by the interim order will only apply after 28 days from today’s date. If the interim order is still in force after that time it will be because the Registrant has commenced an appeal, and during the period pending the resolution of that appeal, it is necessary for the Registrant to be subject to the same conditions imposed by the Substantive Order.

8. The Panel decided that the interim order made should be for the maximum period of 18 months. An order of that length is necessary because the final resolution of an appeal could well take 18 months if the Registrant appeals the Panel’s decision and Order. In the event that the Registrant does not appeal the decision and Order, the interim order will simply fall away when the time within which he could have commenced an appeal passes.

INTERIM ORDER
The Registrar is directed to annotate the Register on an interim basis to show that, for a period of 18 months, you, Emma Taylor, must comply with the following conditions of practice:

1 If you make an appeal against the Panel’s decision and Order within the period allowed for such an appeal to be made, with the consequence that this interim order is still in force after 28 days from today’s date, then the conditions of practice imposed by the substantive conditions of practice order will apply as interim conditions of practise. For the avoidance of doubt those conditions are as follows:

2. Within 28 days you must identify a single supervisor who is an HCPC registered Practitioner Psychologist for the work you undertake offering personal therapy to clients. You must notify the HCPC within 14 days of the identify and contact details of the supervisor whom you identify.

3. You must meet with your supervisor not less frequently than monthly to discuss the work you undertake offering personal therapy to clients. For the avoidance of doubt, the meetings can be undertaken by video conferencing.

4. You must provide your supervisor with a full, unredacted copy of the Panel’s determination.

5. In relation to the clinical work you discuss with your supervisor, you must provide a summary of clients for whom you are providing one-to-one therapy and sufficient information to enable effective supervision.

6. Before nominating the supervisor, you must ensure that he or she will be prepared to write on a three-monthly basis a report summarising progress in raising, examining and resolving issues which may affect or challenge professional boundaries and ambiguities, and you must submit to the HCPC the reports you obtain.

7. You must allow the HCPC to share, as necessary, details about your performance, compliance with, and/or progress under these conditions with your nominated supervisor.

8. You must undertake personal therapy with a person registered with the HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist not less frequently than once a week for a minimum of six months. The focus of the therapy should be psychodynamic psychotherapy or attachment-based therapy.

9. Before appointing a personal therapist, you should ensure that he or she will be prepared to write a report providing information which will assist the Reviewing Panel in assessing progress such as your engagement in terms of bringing personal material, openness to considering multiple perspectives and ability to analyse yourself.

10. You must offer to provide to the personal therapist a full, unredacted copy of the Panel’s determination.

11. If you take up any employment for which your HCPC registration is required, you must inform the HCPC in writing within 21 days of that fact and provide full details of the employment.

This order will expire: (if no appeal is made against the Panel’s decision and Order) upon the expiry of the period during which such an appeal could be made; (if an appeal is made against the Panel’s decision and Order) the final determination of that appeal, subject to a maximum period of 18 months.

History of Hearings for Emma Taylor