Declarations

Standards of Conduct, Practice and Ethics

1. The Standards of Conduct, Practice and Ethics come into effect from 1 April 2025.
2. In accordance with Standard 10:

“Registrants must maintain public confidence in the profession.”

10.1 Act with honesty and integrity.

10.2 Only practise if you are fit to practise. You must cease to practise if you are unfit to practise for any reason including, but not limited to, poor physical, mental, or emotional health.

10.3 Ensure that your conduct, whether or not connected to professional practice, does not undermine public confidence in you or the profession.

10.4 Avoid conflicts of interest which may affect your professional judgement.

10.5 Notify the BPC immediately if you have:

• been charged with a criminal offence;
• received a conviction or caution in the United Kingdom for a criminal offence or for an offence elsewhere which, if committed in England or Wales, would constitute a criminal offence;
• any proceedings commenced against you, civil or criminal, or by any professional body;
• received an adverse determination (i.e. a complaint has been upheld) by another professional regulatory or registration body, either in the United Kingdom or elsewhere; or
• an adverse physical or mental health condition which affects your fitness to practise.

10.6 Not resign or apply to voluntarily remove yourself from the BPC whilst subject to a Fitness to Practise investigation.

10.7 Fully cooperate with any investigation commenced by the BPC.

10.8 Monitor your own health and seek professional help for any problems which may adversely affect your ability to meet the requirements of safe practice.”

3. As per standard 11:

“Registrants must maintain professional candour.”

4. Subsection 11.4 is also of note:

11.4 Inform the BPC if you are aware of concerns relating to a colleague that may be harming their patients or other colleagues.

 Why declare

5. The BPC’s Standards of Conduct, Practice and Ethics requires Registrants to take prompt action and notify the BPC if they have any concerns regarding their Fitness to Practise.

6. A Registrant may not be Fit to Practise if they have any criminal convictions or cautions, adverse determinations made by another regulatory body or where they are currently suffering from adverse physical or mental health condition which impacts their Fitness to Practise.

9. A Registrant is required to be candid with the BPC regarding their Fitness to Practise and further information regarding this obligation can be found within the BPC’s ‘Duty of Candour’ guidance which is  located here.
10. Where a Registrant fails to make a declaration to the BPC, this may lead to a Registrant’s Fitness to Practise being questioned and investigated.
11. If a Registrant fails to declare a conviction or caution, health condition or adverse regulatory decision, the BPC may raise a failure to declare allegation against the Registrant and this can potentially be accompanied by a dishonesty allegation.

What to declare

10. Impairment of Fitness to Practise can be alleged, and found on the following grounds:

• Professional Misconduct;
• Deficient Professional Performance;
• Adverse Physical or Mental Health;
• An adverse determination against the registrant by any other professional regulatory body either in the UK or elsewhere;
• A criminal conviction or caution received in the United Kingdom or a criminal offence committed elsewhere which, if committed in England or Wales, would constitute a criminal offence.

11. Therefore, Registrants are required to make declarations to the BPC regarding their Fitness to Practise in general but especially in connection with the following:

• Criminal proceedings;
• Adverse Physical or Mental Health;
• An adverse determination by a regulatory body

Criminal Proceedings

12. A Registrant has a professional duty to make a prompt declaration to the BPC where they have received a criminal conviction or caution.

13. Where a declaration is required, the declaration should be made as soon as possible, and Registrants should not wait until renewal to make the declaration.
14. Registrants are under a professional duty to disclose to the BPC the following:

• A criminal conviction or caution received in the United Kingdom, or a criminal offence committed elsewhere which, if committed in England or Wales, would constitute a criminal offence;
• Any investigation or proceedings that could lead to the above outcomes;
• Any spent convictions or cautions under section 5(2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 unless they are a protected conviction or caution.  A list of categories of offences that can never be protected can be found here;
• Any motoring or road traffic offences resulting in a conviction. Fixed penalty notices do not need to be declared.

15. When declaring any convictions, Registrants must provide the BPC with the following information:

• Relevant Court or venue of investigation;
• Date of receiving conviction/caution or relevant offence;
• Details and circumstances concerning the offence or investigation;
• Details of sentence

16. If a Registrant has a copy of the Caution, Certificate of Conviction or Memorandum of Conviction then please also provide this to the BPC with your Declaration.

Adverse Physical or Mental Health

17. A Registrant has a professional duty to make a prompt declaration to the BPC where they have an adverse physical or mental health condition which may affect their Fitness to Practise.

18. Health conditions and disabilities affect people in different ways, and it does not automatically follow that a Registrant with an adverse physical or mental health condition would pose a risk to the public.

19. A BPC Registrant is required to make a declaration regarding their health if the health condition/ disability currently affects their Fitness to Practise.

20. When making a health declaration to the BPC, Registrants should provide the BPC with as much information as possible to enable the BPC to assess whether the health condition affects their Fitness to Practise and whether the Registrant has sufficient insight and understanding regarding the condition, and how it could impact their ability to practise safely.

21. In particular, Registrants should provide the BPC with the following information:

• Nature of the condition;
• Date of diagnosis;
• Details of any treatment required e.g. medication etc

22. If, on reading this guidance, a Registrant is unsure whether to make a declaration or not, the Registrant should make a declaration. The Registrant may wish to seek legal advice or speak with the Ethics Committee of their Member Institution prior to making a declaration.

24. Where a declaration is required, the declaration should be made as soon as possible, and Registrants should not wait until renewal to make the declaration.
25. Any personal information of a health nature provided to the BPC will be held securely and confidentially.

Adverse determination by a regulatory body

25. A Registrant has a professional duty to make a prompt declaration to the BPC if they have received an adverse determination by a regulatory body.

26. This includes determinations or decisions made by:

• Another body that regulates a health or social care profession either in the UK or abroad, including an NHS primary care organisation (PCO) or Health Board.
• Any investigation or proceedings which could lead to such determination or decision.

27. The BPC anticipates that this requirement will largely affect Registrants who are dual qualified and regulated by another regulatory body e.g. Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC), BACP, UKCP, Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) etc

28. When declaring an adverse determination by a regulatory body, Registrants must provide the BPC with the following information:

• Date of decision/determination;
• Details and circumstances of the decision or investigation;
• Outcome of the Hearing

29. The Registrant should also provide the BPC with a copy of the determination to enable the BPC to understand the allegations found proven and the sanction imposed, where relevant.

How to make a Declaration

30. If you need to make a declaration, please contact the BPC on FtPO@bpc.org.uk and include the relevant information within the email. Please write ‘Declaration’ in the subject heading.

31. On receipt of your email, a member of BPC staff will acknowledge receipt and may request further information from you.

32. The BPC will then review the information received and write to you to confirm the outcome. Namely, whether the BPC has accepted the concern for further investigation or whether no further action will be taken.

Legal Advice

33. Registrants may wish to obtain independent legal advice, via their Insurance Company, prior to making any declarations to the BPC.