HPC Publishes Fees Consultation Key Decisions, UK

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 23 Oct 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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The Health Professions Council (HPC) has published its key decisions document following the consultation about its proposed fees increase for 2009.

The HPC consulted for three months between April - July 2008 on proposals to raise the fees and asked registrants and stakeholders for their views on the proposed changes. The Council consulted with a variety of stakeholders, including professional bodies, employers, higher education institutions and others with an interest in the HPC's work. However the majority of responses to the consultation came from individual registrants.

After analysing the responses, we found the majority of respondents supported the proposal of maintaining the 50% discount for applicants from approved courses. We also found majority support for increasing the fees for readmission, restoration and the scrutiny fee for international and grandparenting applications. However the majority of respondents disagreed with increasing the renewal fee and the scrutiny fee for applicants from approved courses.

HPC President, Anna van der Gaag, commented;

"It is not surprising to find that respondents did not support renewal fee increases. We recognise that our decision to increase these fees along with other fees will not be welcome. However, it is crucial that the HPC has an appropriate and realistic level of income. Increasing the fees broadly in-line with inflation will enable us to continue to operate effectively, and fulfil our primary role of protecting the public.

"I would like to thank everyone who responded to the consultation, the views of our registrants and stakeholders are important to us and vital in shaping our future activities."

The key decisions document contains reasoning and explanations for our decisions. The main points are:

-- We will set the renewal fee at £76 per year

-- Applicants who have completed an approved course will pay a non-refundable scrutiny fee of £53. The cost of registration for this group of applicants will be £38 per year for the first two years.

-- We will charge a readmission fee of £191, which will include the first year of registration.

-- We will continue not to charge a readmission fee if we receive an application for readmission within one month of registrant lapsing from the Register.

-- We will charge a fee of £191, including the first year of registration, for applicants applying for restoration.

-- We will set the international/EEA scrutiny fee at £420

-- We will set the grandparenting scrutiny fee at £420

-- We will amend our rules to reflect the decisions about our fees outlined in this document,

The changes to the fees will be effective from 1 April 2009.

The full documents (key decisions and consultation) are available on-line and a copy can be downloaded from the . HPC website

The Health Professions Council is an independent, UK-wide health regulator set up by the Health Professions Order (2001). The HPC keeps a register for 13 different health professions and only registers people who meet the standards it sets for their training, professional skills, behaviour and health. The HPC will take action against people who do not meet these standards or who use a protected title illegally.

HPC currently regulate the following 13 professions. Each of these professions has one or more 'protected titles'. Anyone who uses one of these titles must register with the HPC. To see the full list of protected titles please see: http://www.hpc-uk.org/aboutregistration/protectedtitles

· Arts therapists
· Biomedical scientists
· Chiropodists / podiatrists
· Clinical scientists
· Dietitians
· Occupational therapists
· Operating department practitioners
· Orthoptists
· Paramedics
· Physiotherapists
· Prosthetists / orthotists
· Radiographers
· Speech and language therapists

Source
Ebony Gayle
Health Professions Council
http://www.hpc-uk.org