NHS England recognises Accredited Registers in new psychological professions guidance

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) welcomes new NHS England guidance which recognises the important role of Accredited Registers in supporting safe, high-quality psychological services.

The new guidance on NHS registration requirements for use of psychological professions titles sets out, for the first time, clear and consistent registration requirements for psychological professions working across NHS-commissioned healthcare in England.

Crucially, the guidance recognises both statutory professional regulation and registration with a register accredited by the PSA as important mechanisms for providing assurance about practitioners. This means that a wide range of psychological professions on Accredited Registers, including counsellors, cognitive behavioural therapists, psychotherapists and a number of psychological practitioner roles, are now explicitly recognised within the NHS framework alongside professions that are subject to statutory regulation.

This is a significant step forward for the Accredited Registers programme and for the organisations and practitioners that are part of it. It demonstrates the important contribution Accredited Registers can make to public protection and to the safe delivery of health and care services.

Mental health and psychological services draw on a diverse workforce, with many different professional roles and routes to registration. Not all these professions are subject to statutory regulation. Clear national guidance about the registration that should sit behind different professional titles will help NHS employers and service users understand the standards practitioners are expected to meet.

It should also help NHS organisations make better use of the breadth of the psychological professions workforce, giving employers greater confidence when planning and delivering services while maintaining appropriate safeguards for patients and the public.

The guidance was developed in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders including the PSA. We welcome the considerable collaboration that has gone into reaching this point.

Alan Clamp, PSA Chief Executive, said:

“This guidance is an important recognition of the role Accredited Registers play in protecting the public and supporting a safe and effective health and care workforce. Many vital psychological professions are not subject to statutory regulation, but that does not mean there should be an absence of assurance. 

“We are particularly pleased to see professions on Accredited Registers recognised alongside statutorily regulated professions as part of a coherent approach to the psychological workforce. This is exactly the kind of impact the Accredited Registers programme was established to achieve.”