Hugo Barroso

Introduction

Hugo Barroso is a practitioner psychologist who was suspended from the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) register for six months in May 2026 after a Conduct and Competence Committee panel found his fitness to practise impaired by reason of conviction. On 20 November 2023, at Manchester City Magistrates’ Court, Barroso was convicted of stealing a mobile phone whose case contained a TSB Mastercard, a Middleton Arena membership card and a £10 note, and of two counts of fraud committed by using the stolen bank card in transactions at an Argos store in Heaton Park, for goods worth £49.99, and at a Tesco in Prestwich, for goods worth £26. He admitted every element of the conviction through his representative, and the panel treated the case as a profound departure from his ordinary conduct rather than a pattern. He is appealing the suspension.

Background Information

The regulatory case was built on the criminal convictions alone: particular 1 set out the theft, contrary to section 1(1) and 7 of the Theft Act 1968, and the two fraud offences, each committed by dishonestly making a false representation — using the stolen bank card to purchase goods for himself — contrary to the Fraud Act 2006. When given the opportunity to respond to the allegation, Dr Mulligan stated on Barroso’s behalf that each element of the conviction, the entirety of particular 1, was admitted. In mitigation the panel heard that the offending represented a profound departure from his ordinary conduct; that he had been subject to substantial scrutiny by his employers for approximately three years; that he had been back at work for approximately two years; and that there had been no recurrence of untoward behaviour, with the registrant practising safely and effectively since returning.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted, then suspended by the regulator. The convictions at Manchester City Magistrates’ Court on 20 November 2023 are a matter of criminal court record, admitted in the regulatory proceedings. The six-month suspension is the HCPC’s separate consequence, determined on the civil standard; he is appealing it.

The panel’s task fell into two stages. On impairment, the conviction itself established the statutory ground, and the panel assessed the personal and public components: the admitted conviction, the remorse and shame expressed, the preventative measures he had put in place, and the two years of unblemished practice that followed. On sanction, the panel addressed whether the case was serious enough for striking off and concluded it was not, before asking whether a suspension order was nonetheless required. Its conclusion was that public perception of the level of dishonesty was the determining feature requiring suspension, and that a period of six months was the shortest period consistent with the reason why suspension is required. Before confirming six months it assessed proportionality expressly, recognising the possible consequences for his continued employment and private life, and judged the suspension the least restrictive outcome consistent with the need to maintain public confidence.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The published decision notes at the order itself that Barroso is appealing the suspension, and that as no interim order was imposed to cover the appeal period, he is able to practise without restrictions while the appeal is ongoing. At the hearing, the HCPC applied for an eighteen-month interim suspension to cover the gap before any sanction took effect; his representative argued such an order was unnecessary and disproportionate given that Barroso had been working without restriction for two years and that patients he was currently seeing would be immediately affected. The panel, having determined the dishonesty to be serious, declined the interim application. The sanction guidance paragraphs the panel cited allow a future reviewing panel to be assisted by his attendance in person at the review and by a further reflective piece addressing his developing thinking.

Current Status

Barroso remains a registered practitioner psychologist while his appeal against the six-month suspension is pending, because the order does not take effect until the appeal period expires or the appeal is disposed of. The convictions of November 2023 stand as court-record facts, admitted in the regulatory process; the finding of impairment is the panel’s own, resting on the conviction and the public-confidence assessment around it. If the appeal fails, he serves a six-month suspension with a review to follow; if it succeeds, the conviction itself remains on his record with the regulator’s impairment finding set aside. The decision credits the remediation already achieved, noting in terms that the question of what more he could do had, in effect, already been answered by his conduct since returning to practice.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The case marks the boundary between the regulator’s two sanction tiers for convictions: a theft-and-card-fraud spree of modest value, committed off duty, admitted in full, and followed by two years of safe practice landed on the suspension side of the line, with the panel stating expressly that striking off was not the only possible outcome. The reasoning is a working example of how public perception of dishonesty, rather than the sums involved, drives the sanction — £75.99 of goods and a stolen phone put a psychologist’s registration in jeopardy for half a year. The appeal-and-practise posture also makes the case unusual: because the panel declined an interim order, the sanction’s practical force is suspended while he challenges it, and his patients continue to be seen. For employers, the record shows three years of internal scrutiny before the regulatory outcome, all of it disclosed to the panel as mitigation.

Sources

• HCPTS, “Hugo Barroso — Final Hearing, Conduct and Competence Committee, Suspended,” May 2026. source