UK Government minister backs Accredited Registers and its public protection role

The UK’s Minister of State for Health, Karin Smyth, has issued a statement of support for the Accredited Registers programme, overseen by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), reinforcing its vital role in protecting patients and the public. 

In her statement, the Minister calls on employers and commissioners to make use of the assurance provided by Accredited Registers and encourages the public to look for the PSA’s Quality Mark when choosing health and care services. 

Accreditation provides clarity and confidence to patients, service users and employers that registrants meet required standards for conduct and safe practice in sectors including mental health, healthcare science, public health and non-surgical cosmetics. 

The Minister also emphasises the programme’s growing importance as health and care continues to evolve, noting that Accredited Registers can support safe workforce expansion by providing assurance for existing and new roles. This can help ease pressure and increase choice across the health and care system, and support changes to NHS delivery.

This endorsement underlines the value of Accredited Registers in delivering safer care for all, now and in the future.

Alan Clamp, PSA Chief Executive said:

“The Minister’s statement highlights the importance of Accredited Registers in a rapidly changing health and care landscape. It is a call to action for employers, commissioners, practitioners and the public to make full use of the assurances on safety and quality available – and we look forward to working with partners across the health and care sector to strengthen standards and support safer care for all.”

ENDS

Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care

Contact: media@professionalstandards.org.uk

Notes to the editor

1.  The Accredited Registers programme strengthens public protection by assuring standards for practitioners not regulated by law. Overseen by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA), and delivered in partnership with non-statutory registers, it offers a clear and proportionate level of regulatory assurance. 
2. Gaining accreditation shows that organisations running non‑statutory registers set similar standards as regulators for practitioner conduct, complaints handling and responsible practice. This gives patients, service users and employers greater confidence in practitioners across areas including mental health, healthcare science, non-surgical cosmetic and complementary healthcare services. 
3. In a context in which health and care delivery is rapidly changing, accreditation demonstrates a register’s commitment to high standards of care and professional behaviour. 
4. The PSA is the UK’s oversight body for the regulation of people working in health and social care. Our statutory remit, independence and expertise underpin our commitment to the safety of patients and service-users, and to the protection of the public. There are 10 organisations that regulate health professionals in the UK and social workers in England by law. We audit their performance and review their decisions on practitioners’ fitness to practise. We also accredit and set standards for organisations holding registers of health and care practitioners not regulated by law. We collaborate with all of these organisations to improve standards. We share good practice, knowledge and our right-touch regulation expertise. 
5. We also conduct and promote research on regulation. We monitor policy developments in the UK and internationally, providing guidance to governments and stakeholders. Through our UK and international consultancy, we share our expertise and broaden our regulatory insights.
6. Our values are – integrity, transparency, respect, fairness and teamwork – and we strive to ensure that they are at the core of our work. 
7. More information about our work and the approach we take is available at www.professionalstandards.org.uk