The UK’s health and care sector is undergoing one of its most significant transformations in decades, and regulation must evolve to keep pace, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) has warned.
Christine Elliott, chair of the HCPC Council, said the government’s “Plan for Change” and a forthcoming 10-year strategy signal a decisive shift in how care is delivered and experienced. She said reforms are not only about systems but also about strengthening public protection, patient safety and professional accountability.
Elliott highlighted government priorities to move care from hospitals to communities, shift the focus from treatment to prevention, and expand the use of digital tools. She noted that ministers have also committed to legislative changes in this parliament to reform how regulators make decisions and protect the public.
“As care becomes more integrated and multidisciplinary, the role of professional regulation must evolve in tandem,” she said. “As technology, including AI, disrupts practice, regulators must keep pace.”
The HCPC regulates 15 health professions and more than 360,000 registrants, from paramedics and physiotherapists to radiographers and occupational therapists. Elliott said this breadth gives the council a unique view of the sector and a responsibility to ensure regulation is both robust and agile.
She pointed to recent improvements in HCPC performance, with the regulator now meeting 17 out of 18 Professional Standards Authority benchmarks, up from 13 in 2021-22. The council has strengthened its continuing professional development approach, expanded workforce data sharing through its new Data Hub, and advanced work on sexual safety in partnership with employers and educators.
Elliott said HCPC will launch a programme of engagement in the coming weeks to help shape its next five-year corporate strategy. “Now more than ever, we need a regulatory approach that is proactive, collaborative, technologically agile and relentlessly focused on public protection,” she said.
