Regulation of Health and Social Care Professionals Consultation

PART 5
REGISTERS
5.1 A key statutory function of the regulators is to establish and maintain a register.
Registration refers to the compilation of a list of individuals (and sometimes
businesses) who have satisfied a regulator that they are qualified and fit to
practise. Registration may be voluntary or mandatory. This Part considers the
registration of individual professionals. Business registration is discussed
separately in Part 11.
5.2 This Part considers the following matters:
(1) the purpose of a register;
(2) responsibility for maintaining a register;
(3) types of registers;
(4) types of registration;
(5) requirements for registration;
(6) processing of registration applications;
(7) registration appeals;
(8) publication and upkeep of the registers;
(9) restoration to the register;
(10) content of the registers; and
(11) protected titles and functions.
THE PURPOSE OF A REGISTER
5.3 At its most basic level, the establishment and maintenance of a professional
register serves to provide information. Registration enables members of the
public and employers to identify professionals who are qualified and any current
sanctions that have been imposed as a result of fitness to practise proceedings.
A key aim of registration is therefore to reduce the risk posed by unqualified
and/or incompetent practitioners to the public. However, the professional
registers are not merely an administrative record of personal and professional
details, educational achievements and fitness to practise determinations. They
also aim to promote high standards of practice by requiring registrants to
continue to develop their knowledge and skills while they are registered.
5.4 However, the extent to which entry on a register will guarantee the quality of
service provision is not straightforward. Registration may indicate that the
professional has signed up to a code of conduct or certain standards of practice
issued by the regulator, but entry on the register is not necessarily linked to an
appraisal of an individual professional’s performance. The introduction of
revalidation may go some way to address this by making continued registration
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