The HCPC is the statutory regulator of 15 professions. The HCPC's function is to set and maintain standards for those professions, with the objective of protecting the public. Key elements of that statutory function include approving programmes of education and training for the professions and maintaining a register for the sixteen professions which is kept up to date online in real time. The HCPC is established under the Health Professions Order 2001.