CNHC Update

Professional Associations and CNHC – why both are important

CNHC strongly encourages all practitioners to belong to a professional association in addition to CNHC registration. Here we explain why both professional associations and CNHC are important for practitioners.

• The value of professional associations

Professional Associations act in the interests of their members, to whom they provide invaluable services and support. The kinds of services you can expect to get from your association might include:

• insurance services or access to insurance
• training and CPD events
• updates on research and developments within the profession
• encouragement of aspirations to excellence in practice
• guidance and support to members who are subject to CNHC’s complaints procedures.

There are likely to be a range of other services that individual professional associations provide and we recommend that practitioners join and maintain membership with a suitable organisation. Professional membership is good practice and will stand you in good stead throughout your career.

• Why CNHC is important

What’s different about CNHC is that it is not a membership organisation – CNHC is a voluntary regulator. We act in the public interest and are the only organisation set up with government support for this purpose. Our register has been accredited by the Professional Standards Authority, and government has recommended that when people are looking for a health practitioner who is not regulated by law, they only consult a practitioner on an accredited register such as CNHC’s.

CNHC’s core functions are:

• holding a UK register of practitioners who meet the government standards for safe and competent practice
• ensuring that registrants have professional indemnity insurance and undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
• publishing the Code of Conduct, Ethics and Performance (the Code) with which registrants must comply
• investigating complaints about potential breaches of the Code
• imposing sanctions or removing practitioners from the CNHC register, when this is necessary to protect the public.

CNHC registration demonstrates you have met UK wide standards and sets you apart from practitioners who do not hold the CNHC quality mark. That’s why we provide a range of support materials like PR tips and template press releases to help practitioners raise awareness of their registration both locally and nationally, for those who wish to do that.

We also work hard behind the scenes to influence policy making at national level. We engage with policymakers, the Professional Standards Authority, NICE and the government to raise awareness of the value of complementary healthcare and the enormous contribution it can make to the UK’s wellbeing.

• How CNHC works with professional associations

We work with over 50 professional associations who carry out the initial verification process for any practitioner who wants to come onto the CNHC register. We call these associations our Verifying Organisations and they have gone through a quality assurance process to demonstrate that they meet our criteria. We work closely with them to ensure standards are maintained and hold two meetings a year where we come together to discuss the latest in regulation, professional standards and how to enhance the reputation of the complementary healthcare sector.

You can find out more about how we work with professional associations here: CNHC and professional associations and you can see a full list of our Verifying Organisations here: Apply to Register with CNHC - a Step by Step Guide

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter @CNHC_UK

For further information about the CNHC and how to register, renew or login call 020 3668 0406, email [email protected] or visit www.cnhc.org.uk