Recent television documentaries have highlighted how far things can go wrong for service users if no one is brave enough to blow the whistle
You are guaranteed protection if you report a concern, but we recognise that doesn’t mean that it is a comfortable thing to do.
As an HCPC-registered practitioner, one of your responsibilities is to be alert to public safety risks, breaches of legislation and wrongdoing. If you see a situation of this kind at your workplace – or the risk of such a situation developing – you should report it, so it can be put right and potential harm to service users, colleagues and the public is avoided.
How to report a concern?
Procedures and policies for reporting concerns do vary between different organisations. Your own organisation’s reporting policy should be available to you – ensure you know what to do if you ever need to report a concern. We also have information available on how to raise a concern about practice.
What protection is there for you?
But how do you ensure reporting a concern will not have a detrimental effect to your career? You can report your concern to the HCPC without the fear of being treated unfairly at work or losing your job. You are protected by law.
Our Whistleblowing policy outlines what’s involved in raising this type of concern, particularly if you are considering doing this outside your organisation. It also explains how the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 protects workers reporting workplace wrongdoing in the public interest. The Act introduced ‘Prescribed Persons’ – designated organisations you can report concerns to without the fear of being treated unfairly at work or losing your job.
The HCPC is recognised as a ‘Prescribed Person’, so any registrant reporting wrongdoing to us that relates to our statutory functions in their capacity as a worker, and in the public interest, is protected by law. In the past, people may have been reluctant to raise concerns for fear of workplace discrimination – the introduction of ‘Prescribed Persons’ means these kind of fears should no longer deter anyone from raising concerns and reporting wrongdoing.
