Press Release

HPC welcomes new speech and language therapist Council member

13 April 2007

The Health Professions Council (HPC) is pleased to announce that Professor Karen Bryan has joined the Council as the registrant speech and language therapy member.  Professor Bryan filled the vacancy created when Dr Anna van der Gaag was elected President in July 2006. She was selected following a public appointment process which was conducted by the Appointments Commission.  

The Council has a membership of 13 practitioner members and 13 lay members. Each practitioner member has an alternate who attends Council meetings when they are unavailable. The current President is a registrant member. The Council is responsible for developing the HPC’s strategy and policies.

Karen Bryan is a Professor of Clinical Practice at the European Institute of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey.  She is the Director of the multidisciplinary Healthcare Workforce Research Centre at the University of Surrey which has investigated many aspects of workforce development including the experiences of internationally recruited nurses, care sector development, healthcare evaluation, patient safety and education and practice development for the healthcare workforce.

She continues to work in practice as a consultant speech and language therapist in forensic mental health at the West London Mental Health Trust and has extensive experience of healthcare education and course development.

Professor Bryan said “I am delighted to be appointed as a member of the Council. I look forward to working alongside other Council members, facing new challenges and being part of the development of HPC’s policies and strategies.”

Anna van der Gaag, President of the Council, said “I am very pleased that Karen Bryan is going to join the Council as the speech and language therapy member. Her combined experience in higher education, clinical practice and research will ensure she makes a valuable contribution to the work of the HPC.

“Karen has joined the Council at an exciting and challenging time, when the government has recommended that the HPC regulate applied psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors as well as health care scientists. Having worked closely with psychologists during her career Karen will no doubt be involved in the preparations for regulation of these professions. Her policy work and research skills will also be of great benefit to the work of the Council.”