The Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) is the body that regulates practitioner Psychologists. This means that the HCPC:
- Set standards for practitioner psychologists’ education, training and practice
- Approve programmes which practitioner psychologists must meet to be able to register with them
- Keep a register of practitioner psychologists who meet their standards
- Take action if practitioner psychologists on the register do not meet their standards
The HCPC standards can be accessed by clicking this link Standards | (hcpc-uk.org)
Protected titles are titles where it is a legal requirement to be registered with the HCPC in order to use them. With regard to psychological professions the protected titles are as follows:
- Practitioner Psychologist
- Registered Psychologist
- Clinical Psychologist
- Forensic Psychologist
- Counselling Psychologist
- Health Psychologist
- Educational Psychologist
- Occupational Psychologist
- Sport and exercise Psychologist
Anyone not on the HCPC Register who uses a protected title may be breaking the law and could be prosecuted
It is also a condition of employment in Mersey Care that if you are employed as one of the above, you must maintain your HCPC registration. A copy of the Standard Operating Procedure outlining what should happen if someone employed in a protected title role is not currently registered with the HCPC can be found at this link.