Aim: Learning from data and research to inform our decision making and share insights to protect, promote and maintain the health, safety and well-being of the public
Central to our Corporate Strategy is to be an evidence-based regulator. In 2024–25, as we improve our internal infrastructure to allow us to use our data more effectively, we will continue to develop and publish our research and analysis.
Following on from our work on the revised SCPEs in 2023–24, which included updating our standards relating to professional boundaries, we will undertake research on professional boundaries with a particular focus on sexual misconduct. This will assist our work in FTP but also our upstream regulation work and enable our move towards a prevention-focused regulatory approach.
In 2023, for the first time, we were able to include EDI data analysis in our FTP Annual Report. In 2024–25, we will build on this analysis, as we begin to create a more informed picture of the impacts of EDI factors on the FTP process and outcomes.
The HCPC is in a unique position, holding data on over 330,000 health and care professionals.
We have published analysis of our UK and international route retention rates, and in 2024–25 we will publish the next iteration covering new registrations from 2018 to 2020 and tracked until 2024. Sharing our analysis on retention rates will help those responsible for workforce planning in the wider health and care sector, as well as inform our own work on preceptorship.
In 2024-25 we will further this aim by:
Continue to improve data quality and infrastructure
- Building on foundational work carried out in 2023–24 to develop our data capability, we will establish minimum data sets for our core regulatory functions and address remaining gaps in the quality and consistency of these data sets.
- We will establish a road map towards achieving a high standard in our use of data to report on delivery of our regulatory responsibilities, and further build our in-house data capability.
New research activity
- Commission research into the impact of the increasing ethical use of AI by healthcare professionals on professional regulation.
- Following the update on maintaining appropriate professional boundaries in our SCPEs review, we will commission research to explore this area further with a particular focus on sexual misconduct.
Insights and Analytics
- Publish all 15 profession specific EDI factsheets simultaneously.
- Assess HCPC’s processes through an EDI lens, including analysis of FTP case outcomes by diversity characteristics.
- Publish the second suite of the new registrant retention rate analyses, for both UK and internationally trained registration routes.
- Improve and increase the volume of Register analysis accessible on the HCPC website. For example, demographic descriptions of registrant populations including age, sex, and
registration route. - Establish two-way data sharing initiatives with key stakeholders.