Practice Board

Members

The Practice Board is made up of representatives covering the HCPC protected titles, BPS specialist registers and the devolved nations. View more about each of our members. 

Workstreams

With our workstreams, the Practice Board aims to establish, promote and support best practice in the delivery of psychological services.

• HCPC
• National Assessors
• Prescribing Rights for Psychologists

Advisory Groups

Advisory groups are made up of members from across the domains with expertise in the relevant area and membership has a tenure of 3 years. Advisory groups are expected to continue long term and keep a watching brief over issues, proving advice to members and staff. They may also produce guidance or similar. View more information about our advisory groups: 

• Expert Witness
• Mental Capacity
• Mental Health Act
• Safeguarding
• Workforce Planning - this group discusses current issues in workforce across domains and contexts, identifying the need for further  work and directing this through the Practice Board.

Task and Finish Groups

Task and finish groups are set up to complete discreet pieces of work and are then disbanded.

The formation of a task and finish group goes through seven stages:

1. Recruitment
2. Scoping
3. Drafting
4. Practice Board review
5. Consultation
6. Final editing
7. Design Team review

Current Task and Finish Groups

• Assessment, Formulation, and Diagnosis
• Assistant Psychologist
• Memory
• Physical Health
• Practice Guidelines
• Sexuality, Gender, and Relationship Diversity
• Specific Learning Difficulties Assessment
• Supervision

If you would  like to find out more about our workstreams, contact the Practice team.

Awards

The Practice Board has three awards annually. We also run a grant for Black and Asian psychologists. View the awards and grants page for more information.

Getting involved and more information

You can view a list of FAQs relevant to the Practice Board, see the guidance library and find volunteer opportunities on our jobs page. The Practice Team also answers practice queries.

If you can’t resolve your query with the FAQs, please contact the Practice team.

Document production & Publication Process

The information provided here outlines the process for the production and publication of documents under the Practice Board (PB). This will include documents commissioned by the board and those from elsewhere following the PB governance.

PB document commissioning

The PB uses horizon scanning to identify issues and gaps. We look at proposals for new work streams to meet the needs of these issues. The proposals outline the background of the issue, the details of what is needed, any resource requirements and time considerations. The proposals are discussed for approval at PB meetings by the whole Board. Due to the staff numbers in the Practice Team there will be a maximum of 8 projects in progress at any one time. This means that some projects may be approved but put on hold while other work is finished.

PB Task & Finish Groups

Once a document is commissioned a task and finish group will be set up to do the work.

1. The Practice Team will do a pre-mortem risk assessment to identify any risks and mitigations

2. The Practice Team will map internal stakeholders

3. The Practice Team will consider the knowledge and expertise needed in the group membership including:

• Domains of practice
• Contexts of practice
• Clients
• Lived experience
• Other specific experience

4. There will be a society wide call out for chair and members

• BPS website
• Advert in The Psychologist magazine
• Member update e-mail
• Member network newsletters

5. Applicants will be invited to submit a statement of interest via Microsoft forms to detail:

• Their knowledge and experience
• How they work in a group to reach consensus
• How they embed equality, diversity and inclusion into the work

6. Dependent on the risk of the work, established during the pre-mortem, applications may be anonymised following the Anonymised Recruitment Process

7. Applications are usually judged by the Practice Team. Dependent on the risk established during the pre-mortem, other staff or members may also be included in this process.

8. Applicants will be matched with the previously identified requirements and further call outs may be made where there are gaps.

9. Task and finish groups usually have 8-10 members but may have up to 15 dependent on the topic.

PB Document Production

1. Task & Finish Groups will meet 4 times per year, usually online.
2. The first one or two meetings will be used to establish the scope of the document and map the relevant external stakeholders.
3. The group will decide who drafts the document. Usually this is done by small groups writing different sections however it can sometimes be drafted by one member or the chair with the group providing evidence and commenting on the work.
4. Practice Team staff will oversee the work, attending each meeting and ensuring the BPS house style and policies are adhered to.
5. The group may consult with experts or groups outside the group (including people with lived experience) and outside the BPS if they wish to at any point to enhance the work.
6. The document may be sent to internal stakeholders dependent on risk.
7. Authors (and contributors) must give individual written consent for their names to appear as authors in the final document

Member Network and Member documents

1. Individual members or member networks wishing to produce a document should speak to BPS staff before starting work. This ensures:
   - Maximum impact
   - Support with governance
   - Management of expectations
   - Any resource considerations
   - Risk management
2. Practice Team staff can provide support during document production to advise on BPS style, policies and governance. 
3. Practice Team staff can sometimes help with final editing dependent on resource.
4. Practice Team can facilitate collaboration with BPS members from other domains
5. The main drafting will be done, organised and lead by BPS members
6. The draft document can be shared and consulted upon throughout the process as necessary, again managed by the authors.

PB Governance

Documents from Task & Finish Groups and those from member networks or individual members will all follow the same governance process.

1. The final draft will be sent to the Practice Board for approval to consultation.

• This can usually be done by email between board meetings to avoid delays, but some documents may need to wait for a meeting dependent on risk.
• The board may recommend amendments before consultation.

2. The document will be open for society-wide consultation.

• On the BPS website
• In member update emails
• In member network newsletters
• Consultations will be open for at least 4 weeks (this may be extended depending on time of year or topic)

3. Consultation comments will be attended to and audited.

• All comments will be put into one document. The author(s) will note how they have attended to each comment.
• Authors do not have to take action for every comment but they do need to justify why they are not taking action
• The document will be amended according to the comments and audit.

4. The final draft and consultation audit will be sent to the PB chair who will sign off the final document. This sign off is of the process rather than the content of the document. In the case where the Chair has a conflict of interest and is unable to sign off final drafts, this can be done by the deputy PB chair or another Trustee dependent on the risk of the topic.

Document publication

1. Final drafts will be sent to the BPS design team and they will format the document into house style.
   - Authors will see and approve the proof before publication.
2. The BPS communications team will help with a communications plan suitable for each document.
3. The web editing team will place the final document on the BPS website.

Interim Document Review Process

This document outlines the process for reviewing BPS documents at the interim stage of the usual quinquennial review cycle.

Documents reaching 2.5 years after publication will be checked by BPS staff with member involvement to consider:

• Has there been any feedback received about the document?
• Has there been a change in legislation, technology or practice?

If yes to either of the above, would this be sufficient to mean that the document is inaccurate or unfit for purpose and therefore in need of review?

Documents identified as needing review will then follow the below process.

1. Contact the original contributors and ask if willing to participate in the review, either as author or peer reviewer. Aim for at least 4 authors
2. Call out for further review group members if necessary – follow usual recruitment process
3. Ensure any feedback and new evidence is included as part of review
4. Review draft to be peer reviewed by at least 3 people with expertise in the relevant area. Assess risk of topic and consider:
   - whether previous authors are appropriate or if independence is needed
   - whether to send to external organisations
   - whether to send to experts by experience
5. Comments from peer reviewers must be audited using usual consultation audit process.
6. Final draft and peer review audit to be sent to PB chair for sign off
7. Approved draft sent to design team