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Accredited registers update 

About Accredited Registers

 Accredited Registers strategic review update

Our public consultation on the strategic review consultation closed on 18 February 2021. We received more than 90 responses from a range of stakeholders across the UK including NHS bodies, charities representing patients, employers, current and prospective registers, and members of the public. Some organisations had surveyed their own members on specific areas. We also held ‘roundtable’ events with patient groups and employers in January.

We would like to thank those who took the time to respond to our consultation or attend one of our stakeholder events at what we know is a challenging time due to Covid-19. The team are analysing the results and we will publish a full report and an update on the strategic review later in the Spring.

You can find out more about the consultation, including the consultation paper here.

Register of Clinical Technologists takes over voluntary register for sonographers (ultrasound practitioners)

The Register of Clinical Technologists (the RCT) operates a register for healthcare scientists specialising in the practical application of physics, engineering and technology to clinical practice. They have been accredited by the Authority since September 2015.

On 7 December 2020, we published our decision to approve a change to the RCT register, allowing sonographers to be added as a new occupation. Sonographers are healthcare practitioners who perform and report on diagnostic screening or ultrasound examinations. Clinicians commonly use ultrasound during pregnancy to assess the health of the unborn baby, however it can also be used to help diagnose medical conditions and to help guide surgeons during surgical procedures.

Sonographers are not regulated by law, however some sonography roles are undertaken by radiographers who are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council. The RCT register is open to practitioners who practise solely as sonographers as well as to radiographers who wish to practise sonography alongside radiography.

Historically, sonographers have been able to apply to the Public Voluntary Register of Sonographers which is operated by the Society of Radiographers and the College of Radiographers. From 1 March 2021, ownership of this register will be transferred to the RCT.

This decision is in line with our February 2019 report, commissioned by Health Education England, on the appropriate level of assurance for sonographers. In this report, we concluded that ‘there is currently not a clear case for immediate statutory regulation of sonographers as a separate profession in England’. The report is available in full here.

Society of Homeopaths’ accreditation has been suspended

Following a period of under-compliance from the Society of Homeopaths (SoH) which we had been monitoring, and a failure to meet Conditions which we had issued in an effort to resolve the situation, we announced on 11 January that we had suspended their accreditation. The SoH’s suspension will last for 12 months.

In February 2020 we had renewed the SoH’s accreditation, subject to a Condition that they must make their position statements clear that registrants must not practise CEASE, practise or advertise adjunctive therapies that are incompatible with Society registration, or provide advice on vaccination. 

Following an in-year review held in the summer of 2020 to look at new concerns which had been raised, we issued three further Conditions. Two of these were due in October 2020. In December 2020, a Panel judged that these were not met and in addition, the SoH did not fully meet all our Standards and they decided to suspend accreditation.

You can read the full news release and our decision can be read in full here.

Registers renewing their accreditation

An essential part of the Accredited Registers programme is our oversight of the registers. Each year we review accreditation, checking that the registers still meet all our standards. Where they don’t, we can issue Conditions and Recommendations to help bring registers in line with what we would expect to see. All our decisions are published on our website.

We are pleased to announce that the following registers have recently successfully renewed their accreditation:

  • Register of Clinical Technologists
  • National Counselling Society / Hypnotherapy Society
  • British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers
  • Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council
  • UK Board of Healthcare Chaplains
  • Alliance of Private Sector Practitioners.

We also continue to work with those registers who have expressed their intent to apply. The UK Society for Behavioural Analysis has submitted a full application and we are now in the process of assessing this application.