Recently CTA posted a piece titled ‘Is the Health Care Professions Council Heading in a Woke Direction?’ and now there can no longer be any doubt about the answer to this question. Let’s remember that the HCPC is one of the main statutory healthcare regulatory bodies in the UK, responsible for a wide range of professions including paramedics, physios, occupational therapists and, of course, practitioner psychologists. It would obviously be a target for activists. What is the evidence for its capture? Three things:

First: the new revised standards of proficiency that will be adopted this September. As we noted in the earlier piece, both the generic and profession-specific amendments to the criteria confirm that a completely-uncontested activist Critical Social Justice agenda is now being fully instantiated into the professions regulated by the HCPC. We recommend that readers scrutinise the documents laying this out (links provided in original piece).

Second: a new CEO, Bernie O’Reilly, has been appointed and will be starting in role this July, And where was Bernie previously? He was at the College of Policing, where he held the positions of Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Interim Chief Executive. Remember this college’s refusal to obey the law last year and its disastrous support of police investigating ‘non-crime hate incidents’. Bernie presided over this captured college so this does not bode well for HCPC.

Third, just look at the materials being published on the HCPC website. It is completely clear that EDI is now the main focus. Watch the EDI educational webinar (scroll to the end of the linked page for video). Note all the subtle and not-so-subtle markers of ideological capture including: the focus on moving from knowledge to praxis; the unsubstantiated claims such as health inequalities being more prevalent now; urging the move from equality, diversity and inclusion to equity, diversity and belonging; the stated goal of producing more equitable societies; and, finally, the importance of addressing health inequalities. This is an activist agenda. The core mission of the HCPC is being changed.