The Health and Care Professions Council has updated the Standards of Proficiency for Social Workers, effective from 9 January 2017.
The updated standards can be found on the HCPC website, with a pdf version available to download.
The standards set out what a social worker in England should know, understand and be able to do in order to register with the HCPC after completing their training.
These are the threshold standards considered necessary to protect the public. A number of changes and additions have been made, mainly to reflect developments in education and practice.
New standards include the following:
- Be able to identify and apply strategies to build professional resilience
- Understand the principles of information governance
- Be aware of the safe and effective use of health and social care information
- Understand the concept of leadership and its application to practice
The standards were first published in August 2012, and are regularly reviewed. Once registered, social workers must continue to meet the standards.