To report local authority EP ?
Has anyone ever reported a Local Authority Educational Psychologist to the HCPC, and if so, what was your experience of the process?
I’m considering whether concerns about an EP’s involvement in a statutory assessment are matters that should be raised with their professional regulator.
Without identifying the child, the EP was provided with a substantial history which included significant gaps and apparent inconsistencies in support planning, including duplicated wording across plans, medical information warning about a pattern of injuries, and safeguarding/incident records relating to injuries and communication difficulties.
The EP also sent a sensory/profile screening questionnaire to the parent, asked for it to be completed and returned, but the completed screening was not referred to in the final report.
Safeguarding concerns were raised directly with the EP, including whether she could flag them independently. The response was essentially an internal discussion with management within the same Local Authority and advice to complain to the school.
Before a school visit, the EP was also sent information concerning an injury risk plan and an apparent breach of that plan. During the assessment the child told the EP that they did not feel safe at school. That statement was recorded in the report, but much of the surrounding documentary evidence and safeguarding/injury history was not.
The final EP report does not appear to identify the documents considered, contains no appendices/source schedule, and does not explain what happened to the screening information that had been specifically requested.
A subsequent Subject Access Request to the relevant psychology service seeking the underlying records and communications has also not yet been acknowledged.
I’m not looking to name the EP, child, school or Local Authority. I’m simply interested in hearing from anyone who has taken concerns about an Educational Psychologist’s professional practice to the HCPC.
Did the HCPC consider matters such as omission of significant evidence, record keeping, safeguarding/professional judgement, assessment methodology or transparency about the information relied upon?
And if you did make a referral, was it considered as a fitness-to-practise issue or were you directed elsewhere?