Why the Accredited Registers programme is so important
- Written by: Karen Smith — Professional Standards Authority
- Published: 27th November 2017
Are you aware of the therapies offered by over 80,000 healthcare practitioners on Accredited Registers?
Many people living with long-term conditions and disability benefit from a range of healthcare therapies. For example:
- counselling services to help with mental health conditions
- complementary therapies to improving wellbeing
- sports rehabilitation and foot health to help improve mobility
Some are provided for you, others you may choose to fund yourself. But if your services aren’t provided by the NHS, have you stopped to think about who’s treating you? That’s where the Accredited Registers programme come in.
How can Accredited Registers benefit me?
All the therapies above (and more) are offered by practitioners on the Accredited Registers programme.
Everyone on the registers is a qualified healthcare professional. What they also have in common is that their occupation is not regulated by law in the same way as a doctor or a nurse. This means that the bodies set up to oversee doctors and nurses (called statutory regulators) don’t oversee these professionals.
That’s why we set up the Accredited Registers programme in 2012 following some changes to the Health and Social Care Act. We were asked to create a UK-wide programme which set standards for registers of people working in unregulated healthcare professions.
So, what does this mean for the public and for those providing services to the public?
- Accredited Registers provides independent assurance that the practitioner they choose is appropriately trained, signed up to ethical standards and is insured
- It helps them make an informed choice about their care with confidence
- And it makes sure a complaints procedure is in place to protect your rights in the future
For more information about the work we do, visit www.professionalstandardsauthority.org.uk
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