The Health & Care Professions Council-UK (HCPC) Standards of Proficiency for Clinical Scientists changed from 1st September 2023. These are the standards that all registered Clinical Scientists must follow in the performance of their duties, including those who are new registrants gaining entry via the ACS Certificate of Attainment.
The new standards are available to download from this website at https://assclinsci.org/applicants/application-documents/ and it must be noted that in our existing competences there exists the following which shall always refer to the latest standards as published by the HCPC at the time of assessment.
Prof1: Has read, understands and follows the Standards of Proficiency for Clinical Scientists as published by the Health & Care Professions Council
With the publication of the new HCPC Standards of Proficiency the ACS has taken the opportunity to review and revise our competences against which an ACS Certificate of Attainment applicant produces their portfolio and the assessment interview is conducted.
The changes are intended to provide greater clarity, use up-to-date terminology and provide emphasis on the expectation to be more precise, however there are circumstances where additions have been made to existing competences to be more explicit on the requirement which would have previously only been inferred.
Portfolios submitted against the current ACS Generic competences tables shall be accepted until 31st March 2024.
From 1st April 2024, only applications submitted against the new ACS Generic competences tables will be accepted for assessment.
The below details any significant changes that are due to take place to the competences beyond only minor grammatical or typographical changes. Full versions of the both the current and new ACS Generic competences are available to download at https://assclinsci.org/applicants/application-documents/.
| ACS competency (old) | ACS competency (new) | Explanation of change |
| R&D1: read and critically appraise scientific literature | R&D1: read and critically appraise the scientific literature and other sources of information | Clinical Scientists will use a variety of paper and digital sources of information in pursuit of good practice and their drive for steering improvements to the profession |
| Com3: communicate with patients, carers and relatives, the public and other healthcare professionals as appropriate | Com3: communicate with service users, carers and relatives, the public and other healthcare professionals appropriately, modifying means of communication depending on circumstance and its audience | The HCPC Standards of Proficiency (section 3) expect Clinical Scientists to communicate effectively and be able to modify their means of communication depending on the audience, for example recognising that English will not always be an individual’s first language, that an individual may have underlying conditions that have an impact on the way they communicate etc. |
| Prof3: Understanding of the legal and ethical requirements of the modality, and the ethical aspects of scientific research | Prof3: work within the legal and ethical requirements of the modality, recognise the importance of diversity and inclusion and other ethical aspects of practice and scientific research | The HCPC Standards of Proficiency (section 5) expect Clinical Scientists to recognise the impact of culture, equality and diversity on practice and practise in a non-discriminatory and inclusive manner. The change to this ACS competency is also in recognition that these principles must be considered in day-to-day work as well as when conducting research. |
| Prof5: Ability to manage personal workload, and prioritize tasks appropriately | Prof5: manage personal workload, prioritise tasks appropriately and look after your own health and wellbeing, seeking appropriate support where necessary | The HCPC Standards of Proficiency (section 3) expect Clinical Scientists to look after their health and wellbeing, seeking appropriate support where necessary. |
| Prof7: Ability to contribute effectively to work undertaken as part of a multi-disciplinary team | Prof7: contribute effectively to work undertaken as part of a multi-disciplinary team, working in partnership with service users, carers, colleagues and others | The HCPC Standards of Proficiency (section 8) expect Clinical Scientists to work appropriately with others. The change to this ACS competency is also in recognition that in addition to Clinical Scientists and their colleagues, service users, carers and others also have an important role in healthcare. |
| Prof8: Ability to supervise others as appropriate to area of practice. Understanding of the role of appraisal in staff management and development. | Prof8: supervise others as appropriate to area of practice, demonstrating leadership qualities, behaviours and approaches, and engage with appraisals as part of staff management and development | This is to emphasise that the management and leadership qualities, behaviours and approaches of a Clinical Scientist go beyond just the direct supervision of others. |
| Prof9: Understanding of the need and obligation for career-long self-directed learning and the importance of continuing professional development | Prof9: understand the need and obligation for career-long self-directed learning, including appropriate use of technology, awareness of emerging technologies and new developments, and the importance of continuing professional development | The HCPC Standard of Proficiency 11.9 expect Clinical Scientists to recognise the need to be aware of emerging technologies and new developments. Whilst this has previously been implied, the change to this ACS competency is intended to make this requirement more explicit rather than implicit. |
| Prof10: Understanding of the need for, and ability to establish and maintain, a safe practice environment. Understanding of the requirements and obligations of Health and Safety including infection control | Prof10: establish and maintain a safe practice environment, adhering to Health and Safety requirements, including infection control, and recognise your role in health promotion and preventing ill health | The HCPC Standards of Proficiency (section 15) expect Clinical Scientists to help promote health and prevent ill health. |