I work for the Health and CareProfessions Council. Our main aim is to protect the public, and to do this, we keep a register of professionals who meet our standards for their training, professional skills, behaviour and health.
My first task when I arrive is… checking in on emails and tasks in our content management system – it gives me a little “to-do” list, which is a good way to start the day.
One of the biggest challenges I face is… keeping up to date with developments in the health and care sector. We’ve recently revised our standards of education and training to ensure they remain effective and fit for purpose in a changing environment. It’s a big undertaking, communicating the changes to our stakeholders, and will impact onour work over the next several years.
My favourite thing about my job is…the variety. We regulate 16 very different professions, ranging from biomedical scientists to practitioner psychologists to dietitians. I can be recruiting new staff one day, out at an education provider the next, and then reporting to our council the day after.
The thing that makes my job unique is… working with a wide range of professionals to help them interpret and understand our standards and processes. It’s really interesting to see how different professions work, and it’s great to be able to facilitate cross-profession working when considering programme approval.
My route into the role involved… rising through the ranks internally. I knew very little about health and care regulation when I joined the organisation, but I’ve come to understand the important work that the HCPC does to protect the public.
My typical lunch is… something greasy and meaty from one of the many cafés in Kennington, London, – if you’re ever in the area, try Madeira Star.
My job fits into the wider healthcare context… in lots of ways. The education and training programmes for the 16 professions we regulate need to be approved before they can run and this involves working with professionals to assess if these meet our standards.
If I get a few spare minutes then I… catch up with my team, or check the cricket scores – although you can hear the wickets go at the Oval, as it’s so close.
I feel like I’ve had a good day when… someone passes on good feedback about a member of the team, or when we finish a big project like our annual report, which will be available very soon.
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