Membership TERMS & CONDITIONS

Throughout this Terms & Conditions policy:

‘HCPA‘ or ‘Us‘ refers to the Hertfordshire Care Providers Association.

‘Members‘, ‘you‘, or ‘your‘ ‘refer to Care Organisations or Direct Employers that have applied to be a member with Hertfordshire Care Providers Association (HCPA)

 

Terms & Conditions

Membership Fee

The annual membership fee with HCPA is £70 a year if paid by Direct Debit or £90 if paid by invoice request. The membership fee must be paid in full before the commencement of membership.

The membership year is specifically from 1st April to 31st March of any given year in which a membership application is undertaken. Regardless of when a membership is applied for during the year, the membership fee of £70, or £90 depending on payment option, is still applicable and membership will expire on 31st March, the following year.

 

Membership Method of Payment

Based on feedback from our members, HCPA has invested in implementing a system that enables paying for annual membership easier, quicker, and more efficiently. This will require members to set up a Direct Debit of £70 with HCPA to ensure a continuing rolling membership year-on-year.

Since 2019, there are two methods of membership payment: Direct Debit or Invoice Requests.

  • Direct Debit: £70 per year
  • Invoice Request: £90 per year (Inclusive of a £10 administration charge)

Invoice Requests can be made in cash, cheque, direct transfers or over the phone to HCPA but this method of payment will incur an additional £10 administration charge.

 

Membership Eligibility

In order for a membership application to be reviewed, members must be able to provide evidence to satisfy the following criteria:

  • Membership applications must come from an organisation and/or site that is based in Hertfordshire who provide direct care within the Adult Social Care sector
  • If a membership application comes from an organisation or site that is not based in Hertfordshire, it must have a minimum of 4 people supported and at least 50% of people supported based in Hertfordshire
  • The organisation or site making the membership application must be registered with CQC, if applicable

HCPA reserves the right to deny, suspend or retract memberships on the following grounds that violate the Terms and Conditions of your membership:

  • Refusing to update your company’s information and / or failing to provide accurate and current information that is required of members
  • Failure to pay invoices in full, failure to pay annual membership fee in full and / or inability to consistently resolve outstanding financial payments owed to HCPA
  • Falsifying documents to gain funding and / or submitting deceiving or untrue documentation to secure financial support
  • Abusing training information, training resources and / or training personnel in any manner deemed to be unlawful, unauthorised or misused
  • Approaching other learners or member organisation’s staff for employment and / or misusing register information for improper gain
  • Abusing or misusing training programmes, training materials and / or unlawfully duplicating training information without approved consent
  • Any other reason of just cause decided by the HCPA Board of Directors who will take a vote at an Extraordinary General Meeting

Membership Application

Ensure that information inputted during the membership application process is honestly, carefully and accurately entered. You will receive confirmation of your successful or unsuccessful membership application within 7-10 working days.

 

Criteria for Standard, Silver & Gold Memberships

Standard membership

  • Membership applications must come from an organisation and/or site that provides Adult Social Care which is based in Hertfordshire.
  • If a membership application comes from an organisation or site that is not based in Hertfordshire, it must have a minimum of 4 clients and at least 50% of its service users based in Hertfordshire.
  • The organisation or site making the membership application must be registered with CQC, if applicable to the type of service.

Silver membership

  • You must be eligible for Standard Membership (Please see criteria above)
  • You must provide evidence that you are actively promoting the Care Professional Standard Acacdemy to your employees: Examples of evidence, send us a photo of posters in your staff areas, a snap shot of your intranet promotion or emails out to staff.
  • Evidence that two people from your organisation have each attended 12 hours of designated leadership courses within the previous 2 years.

Please note that once you have reached Silver Membership status, this will remain active for a 12-month period from the day the Silver Membership has been awarded. Additionally, if any of the above becomes void once the provider has reached silver status, HCPA reserves the right to suspend Silver and associated benefits.

Gold membership (for regulated and non-regulated services)

Non-regulated services may achieve ‘Community Gold‘ status by meeting all of the applicable criteria above.

Please note that once you have reached Gold Membership status, this will remain active for a 12-month period from the day the Gold Membership has been awarded. Additionally, if any of the above becomes void once the provider has reached gold status, HCPA reserves the right to suspend Gold and associated benefits.

 

Associate Members & Direct Employers

Associate Members

Associate members can only apply for membership with HCPA provided the following criteria has been met:

  • An application is made from a neighbouring county such as:
    • Bedfordshire
    • Buckinghamshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • London borough that borders Hertfordshire including: Barnet, Enfield, Harrow. Havering, Hillingdon, Redbridge and Waltham Forest
  • The organisation making the application has at least one site within Hertfordshire or less than 50% of your overall clients based in Hertfordshire or a confirmed contract with Hertfordshire County Council. 

Once the above criteria has been met, a site of a care organisation may fill out an application form. Upon successful application, the site of a care organisation can benefit from 25% off training, which is usually funded to standard members. However, the site of a care organisation making the application will not be eligible for discounts on all commercial training. The benefits of Associate Membership will only be offered on the condition that these Terms and Conditions policies are not violated.

*Please note that due to certain funding some eligible organisations from West Essex might be able to access certain projects through HCPA without being members. To find out more please contact HCPA at integration@hcpa.co.uk.

Direct Employers

Direct Employers are classified as individuals who employ personal assistance for the specific care of an individual. If an organisation employs personal assistants for their clients, this does not classify them as a direct employer in this instance as they are an organisation and not individual employers. The Direct Employers’ annual membership fee is £20 and have access to the following:

  • Information and support from a professional and knowledgeable team with links to the Hertfordshire health and social care network
  • A wide range of fully funded and low-cost training
  • Free distance learning materials
  • The Hertfordshire Good Care Recruitment Service at no cost

Membership Limitations

HCPA does not, in any setting or capacity, provide professional advice. The professional information is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice.

The information and training provided by HCPA is for general informational purposes only and the information provided on the website, members’ zone and training pathways are in good faith. HCPA makes no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information provided throughout the term of your membership.

HCPA shall not have any liability to any member for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of our website, members’ zone, training courses or reliance on any information provided throughout the term of your membership.

HCPA will not be responsible for the content or experiences third party providers may offer under training, informational guidance and membership. The use and reliance of any information provided by third-party partners is solely at your own risk throughout the term of your membership.

To the maximum extent permitted, the services performed and provided by us and our partners, including benefits, are provided “as is” and “as available”, with all faults and without warranty of any kind. HCPA reserves the right to make changes as and when deemed fit without the need to request consent prior or after changes have been made throughout the term of your membership.

No verbal or written information or advice given by HCPA, and their partners shall create a warranty throughout the term of your membership.

In regards to training funding, it should be noted that it is limited and is not guaranteed to any one member as funding claims are paid on a first-come, first-served basis. In order to ensure a fair distribution of these limited funds to all of our members, HCPA reviews the maximum cap semi-annually and will inform its members if there are any changes.

 

Membership Termination

Members retain the right to terminate your HCPA membership with us at any point by getting in contact with membership@hcpa.co.uk. Please note that by terminating a membership with HCPA, you will no longer be able to access fully funded training, informational guidance or support from HCPA.

Upon a members request to terminate membership; you will be instructed to fill out and submit a Membership Termination form before the successful termination of their membership. You can do this by clicking on this link.

It should be noted that in the event that HCPA’s services and /or benefits are abused, misused or exploited in any manner deemed to violate the conditions of these Terms and Conditions policies, your membership may be suspended, terminated and / or retracted with immediate effect.

 

Membership Feedback

If members have any feedback that they would like to share with HCPA, you are encouraged to submit your feedback on our website here: hcpa.info/contact-us

 

Membership Appeals

The membership appeal process is for membership applicants who have been unsuccessful in their application to become a member with HCPA.

This process does not deal with complaints against a staff member of Hertfordshire Care Providers Association, or its affiliated partners, nor does this process deal with complaints if a user is dissatisfied with a service provided by HCPA or its affiliated partners.

It should be noted that there are no other grounds for an appeal.

 

Membership Appeal Process

We will, within reasonable means, try and assist in understanding the grounds upon decisions that have been made in membership application cases. Each and every membership rejection will be assessed and a particular course of action may be recommended. In some instances, the advice recommended may include that you have no grounds for an appeal or that an appeal is likely to be unsuccessful.

In the event of continuing with an appeal, a letter must be sent to HCPA citing the reasons for the appeal and, where necessary, provide information and documentation to support the appeal. The appeal letter must be addressed to the Chief Executive Officer, Sharon Davies. Please email membership@hcpa.co.uk; doing so will incur a £20 administration fee. The administration fee, however, will be refunded if the applicant’s membership appeal is successful.

Once all relevant documents have been gathered and the appeal has been considered, the Chief Executive Officer will make one of following three decisions:

  • To reject the membership application
  • To accept the membership application
  • To negotiate a provisional membership application

The outcome of the decision will be stated in writing and any and all decisions are non-contestable and final.

If a member is considering an appeal, it is advisable to speak with a member of Hertfordshire Care Providers Association by contacting membership@hcpa.co.uk.

Version 1 2021/2022