We oversee the effective regulation of health and social care practitioners to deliver safer care for all
In essence, what we do is about keeping people safe. Professional regulation and registration ensures that practitioners delivering health and social care are qualified, trained, conduct themselves appropriately, are professional and keep their skills and expertise up-to-date. This is so they can give patients and service-users the best possible care.
The 10 health/social care regulators we oversee are responsible for ensuring the professionals on their register (such as doctors, nurses, paramedics, dentists etc) are appropriately trained and qualified.
We also accredit registers of people working in health and social care roles which are not regulated by law. Our role is to make sure that these registers are carrying out their work effectively so the public are protected.
We do this by:
- setting standards for regulators and Accredited Registers
- producing guidance to help them improve in specific areas
- ensuring that lessons are learnt from past healthcare incidents;
- scanning the horizon for new developments which may affect regulation; for example, the future use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- sharing learning and feedback from our checks on regulators’ final fitness to practise decisions.
The difference between a regulator and an Accredited Register
The 10 health and social care regulators we oversee are responsible for the professionals working in UK health and social care settings who have to be regulated by law. The types of professionals they register include doctors, nurses, paramedics, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, and osteopaths.
Many other roles working in health and social care are not regulated by law but members of the public may still want to be assured that they have the right qualifications and are committed to high standards of care. The Accredited Registers quality mark can provide this assurance. We currently have 29 Accredited Registers in our programme covering over 60 different occupations. These include practitioners working in talking therapies such as counselling, or in acupuncture, hypnotherapy, sports therapy as well as those carrying out non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as Botox or lip fillers.
Ensuring quality in practice and conduct
Both Regulators and Accredited Registers provide assurance that the practitioners on their registers are qualified (and remain qualified) to work in their chosen profession. They also set standards for how those on their registers should carry out their work, including how they deal with patients and colleagues, and handle issues around confidentiality and consent.
Regulators and Accredited Registers have codes of conduct, standards, and guidance that set out all these details, addressing both the 'what' and the 'how' of professional practice.