HCPC standards for social workers

There is a set of standards that we need to abide to ensure that we practice safely. This is known as the standards of proficiency. It used to be known as General social care council (GSCC) until it was abolished in 2012.

Please make reference to my recent article HCPC registration for social workers for further information.

HCPC standards include;

• Maintaining fitness to practice
• Promoting and protecting the interests of the people we work with
• Exercising our professional judgement
• Having an awareness of culture, equality and diversity in our practice
• Ensuring that we are being non-discriminatory
• Always making sure that we are maintaining confidentiality
• Communicating effectively with the people that we work with
• Being able to manage risk
• Maintaining accurate and professional records
• Being honest and trustworthy

If you have any questions around HCPC fitness to practice  have a read of my recent article.

When I was a student I remember carrying around the GSCC standards throughout my placements. I was always referencing the standards within my placement portfolio and assignment work.

As a professional it is our responsibility to make sure we meet these standards at all times during when we are working. It is really important that if you are not sure about something you should always ask for some advice or guidance.  We are accountable for everything we do and we need to be able to justify our decisions and actions that we take at all times.

We may not always get everything completely right but it’s really important that we are honest about the mistakes that we have made so that we can learn and be supported appropriately.

There have been many cases where social workers have used social media inappropriately. This could result in a 12-month condition of practice order or even losing your registration. I am just wanting to highlight that it isn’t just what we do during our work hours but it also linked to the actions we take and decisions we make in our personal time that can impact on our registration.  I will write a separate article about this later.

Being aware and talking about our registration and standards can also help members of the public to build confidence in our profession.

Access to the detailed requirements of the standards are available on the HCPC website.  Every social worker should ensure that they are up to date with these and aware of any changes that have been made. Please make reference to their website for the full information.