About Accredited Registers

Health and care services are delivered by a mix of professions and practitioners working in different roles. 

To ensure that the public is protected some organisations hold “registers” (public lists) of people in those roles that can be checked by patients, service users and employers. Some of these registers are ‘statutory’ whilst others are ‘voluntary’.

This difference is because it is a legal requirement for certain health and care roles to be regulated. For example, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and paramedics are all regulated occupations. These professionals must be properly trained and qualified to meet the regulator's standards and be added to their register. You can find out more about our work with regulators here.  

Other health and care professionals are not legally required to be on a register; like acupuncturists, counsellors, chiropodists, along with many others.

Instead, practitioners in those roles can voluntarily decide to join a register. These registers can then decide to apply for our accreditation. By achieving accreditation, they are demonstrating a commitment to maintaining high standards in their profession and to protecting the public.

Find out more about Accredited Registers in this section.

Look for the Quality Mark

The PSA has legal powers to award Accredited Register status when a health and care register meets our Standards for Accredited Registers. Our functions in relation to accreditation are set out in Section 25(2) of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002.

Our accreditation shows that a register works in the interest of patients and service users and that the practitioners on those registers are held to a high standard.  

When we award Accredited Register status, we permit the practitioners on the register to use the Quality Mark. Everyone permitted to use the Quality Mark should display it when promoting or advertising their services.  

Patients, service users and employers should look for the Quality Mark when choosing health and care services.  

Information for employers, health and care professionals and the public: Look for the quality mark

Not everyone working in health and care is required to be registered by law.

The Accredited Registers programme was set up to make sure that non-statutory registers meet standards that prioritise the safety of patients and the public.  

An Accredited Register ensures that those who work in roles not regulated by law will be held to high standards.  

For a register to be accredited and display the Quality Mark (our approved logo), they must meet our Standards for Accredited Registers. This means that when you choose a practitioner listed on one of our Accredited Registers, you can be more confident that you are receiving quality health care.  

You can find a list of Accredited Registers here. Each link will tell you a bit more about the Register,  and then give you the option to  go to a register's website, where you can read more about the types of roles they register and how they are meeting our standards. You can also search their register directly for a practitioner.

Our accreditation decisions provide information about our most recent assessments of each register and how they are meeting  our Standards for Accredited Registers.