Consultation: Disabled working as health & care professionals
By Reports & Resources, ,

HCPC launches consultation on revised guidance for disabled people wanting to become health and care professionals.

The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) has launched a consultation on revised guidance for disabled people wanting to become health and care professionals.

In 2006, ‘A disabled person’s guide to becoming a health professional’ was published. It provided guidance to disabled people wanting to become a professional regulated by the then HPC, as well as information for education providers in this area. This guidance is now out of date.

The primary aim is providing information to disabled people which helps overcome any perceived boundaries to them becoming qualified in their chosen profession and also registering with the HCPC. The guidance also includes information for staff working for approved education providers about their responsibilities when making decisions about disabled applicants and students.

As part of reviewing and revising the guidance, Coventry University were commissioned to undertake research with disabled students and with staff involved in education and training, including, for example, admissions staff, staff in disability services and practice placement educators. The outcomes of the research have informed revisions to the existing guidance.

Director of Policy and Standards, Michael Guthrie commented: “We have reviewed the existing guidance to ensure it was up to date with changes in legislation and our standards and policies. We also wanted to review the guidance to improve it overall – to make sure that it was as helpful as possible in providing information to disabled people which would help them in becoming health and care professionals, and in supporting education providers in this area.”

The public consultation will run from 1 October 2014 until 16 January 2015.