Statutory & Mandatory Training

Pre-hospital care personnel are required to undertake staff induction covering statutory and mandatory subjects e.g. safeguarding, moving and handling and health & safety in the workplace. This is a mandatory pre-hospital sector obligation for all staff under various Health and Safety Executive (HSE) requirements.

It is a requirement, under regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, for CQC registered organisations to provide suitably qualified, competent and experienced staff to enable them to meet all other regulatory requirements described in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Certificate Validity

We are only able to accept certificates that are fully accredited by the awarding body. They must have no outstanding modules, preceptorship hours or additional elements, and must be valid for a minimum of six months from the date of submission.

Scope of Practice

HPAC is a regulator, not an authoriser of practice. Actual scope of practice is the responsibility of the individual and/or their employer with reference to the relevant law/guidelines/training/competencies in accordance with practice jurisdiction.

*Trainees/Students

If you do not hold a qualification but are a trainee or student who has supervised contact at all times when attending patients, you may request registration as a Trainee/Student. There are four pathways we currently accept for this type of registration: 1) Emergency Care Assistant 2) Ambulance Technician 3) Associate Ambulance Practitioner 4) Paramedic. Verifiable evidence of enrolment on an accredited course that meets the standards for the relevant grade as outlined below must be supplied. HPAC does not recognise any scope of practice for a Trainee/Student as this is the responsibility of the individual and/or their employer with reference to the relevant law/guidelines/training/competencies in accordance with practice jurisdiction. The HPAC register will not indicate what pathway is being followed by the trainee/student and will only display "Trainee/Student". Registering as a Trainee/Student will bind individuals to HPAC's code of conduct, performance and ethics, and they will be subject to the same principles of regulation that full registrants abide by. 

FPHC PHEM Skills Framework

The Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh created the PHEM Skills Framework to encompass personnel of varying levels, ranging from First Aiders to Advanced Pre-Hospital Medical Practitioners, and to span multiple organizations within UK prehospital care. Find out more here

*NB: Trainees/Students are not considered full registrants, however, they agree to abide by our code of conduct and the principles of regulation. As they are not full registrants yet, ID cards will not be issued for this type of enrollment on the register. We recommend trainees/students update their enrollment as soon as they have completed the necessary training for one of the registrant grades below. E.g. once the first aid element on an accredited course has been signed off, they can apply to update their grade from Trainee/Student to First Aider (FA).

Kindly note that individuals who have been struck off, suspended, or placed under a restricted practice order on a statutory or voluntary register may not be eligible to apply to the HPAC.

HPAC Registrant Grades

First Aider (FA)

Category A or B on the FPHC PHEM Skills Framework

We can only accept nationally recognised certificates obtained from a training centre for an ‘awarding organisation’ (AO) recognised by national qualification regulators (Ofqual, Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) or Qualification Wales). Or certificates issued by a Voluntary Aid Society named on our First Aid requirements page.

Find out more here: First Aid requirements

First Responder (CFR)

Category C or D on the FPHC PHEM Skills Framework

Requires one of the following:

Ambulance Care Assistant (ACA)

Requires one of the following: 

In order to meet the ACA standard, registrants are required to have all the elements of Core Skills Training Framework (CSTF) NHS / Skills for Health. Read more here. If you are seeking recognition of prior learning, evidence will be mapped against current level 3 Ambulance Support Worker Non-urgent standards (enhanced evidence scrutiny fees may apply for the cross-mapping exercise).

Emergency Care Assistant (ECA)

Category E on the FPHC PHEM Skills Framework

Requires one of the following:

If you are seeking recognition of prior learning, evidence will be mapped against current level 3 Ambulance Support Worker Emergency, Urgent and Non-urgent standards (enhanced evidence scrutiny fees may apply for the cross-mapping exercise).

Ambulance Technician (EMT) 

Category F on the FPHC PHEM Skills Framework

Requires one of the following:

If you are seeking recognition of prior learning, evidence will be mapped against current Level 4 Associate Ambulance Practitioner standards (enhanced evidence scrutiny fees may apply for the cross-mapping exercise).

Associate Ambulance Practitioner (AAP)

Category F on the FPHC PHEM Skills Framework

Requires one of the following:

HCPC Registered Paramedic (PA)

Paramedics must be registered with the HCPC in order to apply to the HPAC (more information)

It is important to note that Paramedics who register with the HPAC do so on a voluntary basis as an additional registration, provided that their HCPC registration has no current practice restrictions. Registering with the HPAC does not replace the requirement to maintain active HCPC registration, and a valid HCPC PA number is required in order to be registered with the HPAC. Paramedics must ensure that their HCPC registration remains active at all times in order to remain on the HPAC register. If a Paramedic's HCPC registration is revoked, suspended, or subject to a restricted practice order, they will be immediately removed from the HPAC register as the HCPC holds primary jurisdiction in these matters.