Registration Options

Audiology in the United Kingdom is a profession with many titles. Over the years, we have had Registered Hearing Aid Dispensers, Clinical Scientists, Audiological Scientists, Hearing Therapists, Audiologists, Medical Technical Officers and Assistant or Associate Audiologists to name a few. As a profession, Audiology is within Healthcare Science. The various titles and qualifications complicate professional registration, because there are different routes to qualification, as well as different registration bodies to consider.

At present, there are two registration bodies in the United Kingdom:    

•  Academy for Health Care Science (AHCS) incorporating Registration Council for Clinical Physiologists (RCCP) (Voluntary) 
  
• Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) (Statutory)

Why Register?

Registration bodies are responsible for protecting the public by reducing risk and ensuring safety in healthcare sciences. They manage this by ensuring that the educational standards, the code of conduct, and continued professional development are met and carried out by those registered.

Other reasons include:

• It helps develop common standards for all Healthcare Scientist Practice. The HCPC and AHCS set the standards required for registration, thereby assuring quality for education, training and workforce standards.

• It encourages employers to support the ongoing education and development needs of their workforce. Some employers may preferentially allocate funding towards training activity, where it is required to support an individual’s CPD for registration.

• It makes it easier for services to provide assurance to accreditation bodies, stakeholders and patients that they are providing quality service with clinical staff who are safe and competent to practice.

• It may help you progress in your career, as some trusts and specialisms have started to implement registration into the banding structure, and it may be a requirement for senior roles.

• It helps strengthen the profession, raising the profile of healthcare science professionals and their significant contribution to patient care, clinical excellence and healthcare advances.

• It helps offer the opportunity for expansion of healthcare science roles, as they are supported as a group.

Which registration body should I register with?

This is not an easy question to answer. It is an individual choice that depends on the type of qualification, as well as the level of clinical experience and preferred work environment. Below is a flowchart which can be followed when determining a route to registration.