Chiropodists / podiatrists - HCPC

1 Sta ndard s of profi ciencyChiropodists/podiatristsFore wo rd 1In tro duc tion 3 Stan da rd s of pr ofici en cy 7Co nte ntsWe are pleasedto pre se nt th e Hea lth and Car e Pr ofessionsCou nc il s standardsof profi ci en cy for chiropod ists / podia trist first publishedsta nd ard s of prof icienc y for chi rop odist s /podi atr ist s whenour Regi st er open ed in July publi shedre vised st andar ds in re vie w the st and ard s re gularlytolook at how they are worki ng and to chec k whetherthey continueto re fl ec t cu rrent pra ct ice in th e profe ssio ns we se new revisedst an da rd s are a resultof our most recentre view of the stand ard s of pr ofi cie nc y. As a result of the first st ageof the re view , and the res ul ts of a pu bl ic consultation, we havere vised our gen er ic stan da rds wh ich app ly to all the professionswe re gul ate.

2 The re vis ed st an da rd s are now based ar ou nd 15ge ne ri c st is new str uctu re meanstha t we ca n ret ainthe st an da rds whichar e sha red acr oss al l the profe ssionswere gu late, whilst allowi ng us more flexi bilit y in describing thedet ailed standardswh ich are spe ci fi c to indiv idual profe profession -spec ific sta nd ard s for chiropod ists / podia trist sinc lude d in this doc ume nt wer e de ve lope d throughthe inp ut ofthe re lev ant profession al bodi es an d the vie ws of all st akeholdersduri ng a fu rther pub lic con sul tat ion . The re view processandconsu ltati on produced va luabl e fee dbac k and we ar e grat eful toall those who gave th eir ti me to he lp us in shapi ng the ne wst and ar ds .We have madea small nu mbe r of ch angesto the sta nd ard sov er all, main ly to ref lec t deve lop men ts in education and pract ice,to cl ari fy our intent ion s and to corre ct any err ors or om ve al so madesomemin or cha nge s to the int roduct ion, inpar ti cul ar to ex plai n the langu age we use in the st anda and ard s of pr ofi cie nc y Ch iropodists / podia trist s1 For ewor dWe are confidenttha t th e sta nd ard s are fit for purp ose and re fl ectsa fe an d ef fectiveprofe ss ion al pr ac tic e in chir op ody and podi se st an dar ds are effe ct ive fr om 1 Sep temb er nda rds of pr oficie nc y Chi rop od ists / pod iatrists2 Thi s doc umentsets out th e sta nd ard s of pr oficie nc y.

3 Thesest and ar ds set ou t sa fe an d ef fe cti ve pract ice in the professionswe re gul ate. They are the th res hold stan dar ds we cons iderne cessa ry to protectmembers of th e publ ic. They set out what ast ud ent mu st know,un de rs ta nd an d be ab le to do by the tim ethe y have completedtheir training, so that they ar e ab le to app lyto re gis te r with us . On ce on ou r Re gis ter you must meet thosest and ar ds of profic ienc y wh ich rela te to the ar eas in also expectyou to kee p to our st anda rd s of cond uct,per forma nce and eth ics and st an dar ds for conti nuingpr ofessionaldev elop pu bl ish the se in se pa rat e documents, whichyou can fi nd on our web si te .The st and ards of pr ofi cie nc y in thi s documentincludebothge ne ri c elements,whi ch ap ply to all our regist rants, andprofe ssi on-s pecificeleme nt s whi ch are relev ant to re gist rantsbel ongi ng to on e of the prof es si ons we curr ently regulate.

4 Thege ne ri c st an dar ds are wri tte n inbol d, and the pr ofessi on-sp ecificst and ar ds ar e wr itte n in plain te have numberedthe st an da rds so tha t you ca n refer to themmore easi ly. The sta nd ard s are not hierar chicaland ar e all equall yimpor ta nt for pract note about our exp ectati ons of youYou must meet all the st an dar ds of profic iency to registerwit h usand me et the stand ard s rele va nt to your scop e of prac tice to sta yre gi st er ed with us .It is imp ort an t that you read an d und erst and this your pr acticeis ca lled int o qu es ti on we will consi der thesest and ar ds (and ou r sta nd ard s of con duc t, performanceandeth ics) in decidingwha t acti on, if any , we ne ed to st and ards set out in th is doc ume nt com pl ementinformationand gui dan ce issue d by oth er orga ni sati ons, such as yourprofe ssi onal body or you r employer.

5 We recognisethe valuablerol e pl ayed by pr ofe ss ion al bod ies in pr ovi ding guid ance andSt and ard s of pr ofi cie nc y Ch iropodists / podia trist s3In trod uct ionad vice about good pra ct ice wh ich can help you to meet thesta nda rd s laid ou t in th is docu men ur scop e of practi ceYour sc ope of prac ti ce is the are a or are as of your profe ssion inwh ich you have the know ledge, skil ls and exp erienceto pract iselawful ly, saf ely and eff ec ti vel y, in a wa y that meet s our st anda rd san d doe s not pose any da nge r to th e pub lic or to re cognisethat a regi st ra nt s sc ope of pract ice will changeove r time and that th e pra cti ce of experienced regist ra nts ofte nbe come s more foc us ed an d spe cia lised than that of ne wlyre gis te re d colleagues.

6 Th is migh t be bec ause of sp ecia lisat ion in ace rta in area or with a par ti cu lar clie nt gr oup , or a movem ent int orol es in management , ed uc ati on or er y time you renewyou r re gis tr at ion, you will be askedto si gn ade clarat ion that yo u cont inue to mee t the sta nd ar ds of profic iencyth at app ly to your sc ope of pr ac ti r par ticular sco pe of practicemay mea n that you areunable to continueto dem ons tr ate that you me et all ofthe standardsthat apply for the whole of your pr lon g as you mak e sure that yo u are pra ctis ing sa fel y an deff ect ivel y withinyour given scopeof practice and do not pra cti se inth e areaswhereyou are not pro ficientto do so , thi s wil l no t be apr obl em. If you wa nt to move outsideof yo ur sc ope of pr acti ce ,yo u should be certainthat yo u are capableof wo rki ng law ful ly,saf el y an d meansthat you ne ed to ex erc isepers onal judgement by undertakingany ne ces sa ry tra ining orgai ning experience, beforemoving into a new are a of pr ac tice.

7 Me eti ng th e sta nd ard sIt is impor tant that you me et ou r st an dar ds and are abl e topr ac tise lawf ully, saf ely an d effe ct ive ly. How ever, we do not di cta tehow you shouldmee t ou r sta nd ard s. Thereis norm ally mor e thanone wa y in wh ich eac h sta nd ard ca n be met and the way in whichyou mee t our stan dar ds migh t ch an ge over time bec ause ofimp rov ementsin tec hn ologyor cha nge s in your prac tic nda rds of pr oficie nc y Chi rop od ists / pod iatrists4St and ard s of pr ofi cie nc y Ch iropodists / podia trist s5We of te n receiveque st ion s from re gis trantswho ar e concerne dtha t somethingthey ha ve bee n aske d to do, a policy, or the wayin whi ch they wor k migh t mea n the y cannotmeet our st andar y are often wor ri ed th at thi s mi ght ha ve an ef fect on the irre gi st ra ti an aut onomousprof es sion al, you nee d to make inf orm ed ,re ason ed decisions abou t you r pr act ice to ensur e that you meetthe st an da rds that app ly to you.

8 Thi s includes seekingad vice andsu pp ort fro m education prov ider s, employers,coll eagues,profe ssi onal bodies, uni ons an d ot he rs to ensu re that thewellbe ing of serviceuser s is saf egu ardedat all long asyou do th is and can jus ti fy you r dec isions if aske d to, it is ve ryun like ly that you will not mee t ou r sta nd ar ng ua geWe recogn ise that ou r regi st ra nt s work in a rangeof differ entse tti ngs, whichincl ud e dire ct pra ct ice, management , education,re se arc h and roles in indu st ry . We recognisethat the use ofter min olog y can be an emot ive issu re gis trantswor k wit h ver y diff ere nt pe ople and use dif fer entter ms to describethe group s tha t use, or ar e af fect ed by, thei rse rv ice s. Some of ou r regi st ra nt s work with pat ient s, otherswithclient s and otherswith ser vi ce user s.

9 Th e terms that you use willdep end on how and wh ere you wor k. We have used termsinthe se st an dar ds wh ich we be lieve be st reflectthe groupstha tyou work with .In th e standards of pro ficiency, we use phra se s suc h as u nders tand , kno w , an d be able to . Thi s is so the standa rdsrem ain applicableto cur rent reg istran ts in ma intai ning the ir fitne ssto practise, as well as pro spectiveregis tr ants wh o hav e no t yetstartedpractising and are applyingfo r reg istr ati on for the firs t time .Sta nda rds of pr oficie nc y Chi rop od ists / pod iatrists6 The se sta nda rds may chan ge in the futureWe ha ve pr oducedth es e sta nd ard s after spe akingto oursta ke hol der s and hold ing a forma l pu bl ic will co ntin ue to lis te n to our stake hol ders and wil l keep oursta nda rd s un der con tin ual revi ew.

10 Th er efor e, we may makefur th er changesin the fu tu re to ta ke into acc ount changesinpr ac will al ways pub lic ise any ch an ges to the stand ar ds that wemakeby, for instance , pu bl ishi ng noti ces on our web si te andinformi ng professiona l bod gis tr an t ch iropod ists / podi atrists must :1 be abl e to practi se sa fel y and effectivelywit hin thei rsco pe of pr limits of th eir pr ac ti ce and whento se ek advi ce or referto an oth er profession cogni se the need to man age thei r ow n workl oad and resourceseffe ctively and be abl e to pr ac tise accor dingly2 be abl e to practi se wi thin th e legal and ethicalboun dar ies of th eir professi der stan d the need to act in the be st inter ests of servi ce usersat all der stan d what is requ ired of them by the He alt h and Car eProfe ss ion s Coun der stan d the need to re sp ec t and uphol d the rights,dignit y,val ue s.