Wrong - test Accredited Registers

We accredit organisations holding registers of health and care practitioners not regulated by law, to give the public confidence in their services.   

Find accredited practitioners with our Quality Mark.

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. 

INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTIVE REGISTERS: APPLY FOR ACCREDITATION

To show your commitment to public safety and become part of a government-backed initiative to protect the public, apply for our Accredited Registers Quality Mark.  

You can apply for an initial assessment against Standard One before a full application – or submit a full application against Standards One to Nine.  

Seven steps to accreditation:

Step One: Check our guidance - Read our guidance on applying for accreditation and the Standards for Accredited Registers, including our minimum requirements set out in the Evidence Framework. 

Step Two: Talk to our team - Our accreditation team will provide further information and answer any initial questions. They can help you decide whether to apply for an initial assessment against Standard One and support you through the process.  

You can contact the team: 

Step Three: Complete an application form - Download an application form for Standard One.  

If you are submitting a full application after your initial Standard One assessment has been completed, you must also download Standards Two to Nine.

You must make a payment in full at this stage. You can find out more about fees in our Accreditation Fees Guidance.

Before you submit your application, please be aware of our Freedom of Information statement.

Notification of applying for both Standard One and full applications will be published on our  See who is applying webpage.  

Step Four: Consulting the public

An important step in the accreditation process is to ask stakeholders to share their views on the effectiveness of a register through our Share Your Experience process. We use this information to inform our assessment against all our Standards throughout the process. You can read more about it in the Information for All Audiences section of our website.

Step Five: Assessment process

If you have submitted a preliminary application for Standard One, the accreditation team will assess whether the Standard is met based on the evidence provided and we will ask one of our Accreditation Panels to decide.  

If successful you will be invited to submit a further application for us to assess you against Standards 2-9. Once you have submitted a full application (Standards 1-9) we will assess it. This includes: 

  • a full review of your documentation 
  • interviews with your Chief Executive, Chair, Registrar and other relevant staff 
  • observation of a meeting of the governing board/committee 
  • observation of a professional conduct hearing 
  • site visit 

Step Six: Decision

When we have enough evidence for a decision to be made, we will arrange for an Accreditation Panel to consider your application.

Panels may award accreditation, adjourn to request further information or to issue further actions that need to be met before accreditation can be awarded,  or refuse accreditation – although this last outcome is rare. If accreditation is awarded, further requirements (called Conditions) or Recommendations for best practice may also be issued.  

If a register disagrees with a decision it may appeal. Please read our Appeals Policy Guidance first.   

Step Seven: Announcing Accreditation  

If your accreditation application is successful, we will confirm our decision in writing. Shortly after, we will publish a news statement on our website announcing our decision to accredit your register. We encourage you to do the same.  

Some organisations benefit from a discussion with us on how to raise awareness of their new status as an Accredited Register with stakeholders.  

INFORMATION FOR CURRENT REGISTERS: RENEWING YOUR ACCREDITATION

We re-assess accreditation against our Standards for Accredited Registers every three years.  

In between re-assessment we conduct checks each year of information you are providing to the public and how you are responding to safety concerns.

We can also do a Targeted Review, at any time, if it is necessary. A Targeted Review could be triggered by concerns at an annual check, or those raised in-year though our ‘Share Your Experience’ process.

Registers have to provide us with evidence that a Condition of accreditation is met, before it can be removed

Once accredited, registers must tell us of any significant changes so we can check that the Standards are still met.  

Everything you need to know about renewing your accreditation can be found in our Renew Your Accreditation guidance.  

INFORMATION FOR ALL AUDIENCES: SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE  

We listen to the experiences of patients, service users, the public, professional and representative organisations, employers and others when making decisions about Accredited Registers.  

We keep any information received until our next assessment and then use it to inform our decisions at that time. If what we have been told is serious, then we will consider it sooner through a Targeted Review. Share your experience with us.

We cannot intervene in individual cases or overturn decisions made in complaints processes about health and care practitioners on an Accredited Register. If you have a complaint about an Accredited Register or a practitioner on their register, please contact the Accredited Register. You can find them on our Find an Accredited Register page.  

Please also see our health and care guides to help you decide who to contact. 

INFORMATION FOR ALL AUDIENCES: Find a Register

This content will be copied as is into the new website because it either relates to complex assessment decisions or comes from the registers. Once the website is live we will work with the registers to improve it.  

INFORMATION FOR ALL AUDIENCES: Accredited Register Decisions  

This content will be copied as is into the new website because it either relates to complex assessment decisions or comes from the registers. Once the website is live we will work with the registers to improve it.  

INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTIVE AND ACCREDITED REGISTERS: RESOURCES  

This content will be copied as is into the new website

INFORMATION FOR ALL AUDIENCES: Complaints and Appeals

Complaints about our service

To provide feedback or raise a concern about the service we have provided through the Accredited Registers programme, our Accreditation Team will be happy to discuss this with you. They can be contacted by email at: accreditationteam@professionalstandards.org.uk

If you still have a concern or would like your complaint to be considered by someone outside of the Accreditation Team, then you can use our organisational complaints process. 

Complaints about health and care

Complaints about the Register or one of its registrants should be raised with the Register directly as we cannot intervene in individual concerns. Details of how to contact a Register are set out in our Find an Accredited Register page.

If you have been unable to resolve a complaint with the Register, then you can use our Share Your Experience form to tell us about it. We will use this information in our next assessment of how the Register meets our Standards for Accredited Registers.[Q13]

For general guidance on making complaints about health and care practitioners please see our Health and Care Information webpage.