On the latest episode of ‘Care to chat?’ podcast, we welcome the Northern Ireland Social Care Council’s (the Social Care Council) Head of Fitness to Practise, Helen McVicker. Helen sits down with our host Dr Wendy Austin MBE, to talk about the role and challenges of regulating social care workers and social workers, when it comes to protecting the public.

They speak about fitness to practise which is the public protection role of the Social Care Council, including the importance of registration and the Public Facing Register (the Register), community awareness this, how they work with others who have a role in public protection and what happens when a concern is raised about the standards of conduct and practise for a social care worker or social worker – proportionately, both for the practitioner and the person raising the concern.