Health Professions Council Name Change

On Wednesday 1 August 2012, the Health Professions Council will change their name to the Health and Care Professions Council. At the same time, they will also become the statutory regulator of social workers in England, taking over regulatory responsibilities from the General Social Care Council. These changes have been made by government through the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Although not everyone who is registered with the HPC works in 'health' or 'care', the new name is intended to better reflect the increasingly diverse professions they regulate, many of whom work in a range of settings including education, community or social care. They will be adopting a new strapline 'Regulating health, psychological and social work professionals'.

To reflect the name change they have revised the main corporate logo as well as the registration logo, a bilingual English / Welsh logo and variants for use across our social media channels including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

HPC's existing professions will not be paying for these changes as they are being brought about through the Health and Social Care Act 2012. A grant from the Department of Health will cover the cost of amending materials due to the change of name and the work to allow social workers in England to join the Register.

There is no deadline for the discontinuation of the old registration logo or a requirement for registrants to change their marketing materials immediately. Where possible, we hope that registrants will move to the new logo as soon as possible, but understand that some may need time to use up stationery or materials. We are not asking registrants to incur undue costs as a result of this change, but to gradually phase in the changes where they can.

For more information see their website: www.hpc-uk.org/aboutus/namechange