How to check a healthcare professional’s registration

Who this is for

• Anyone about to book a professional they have not used before, or whose title they are unsure of.
• Families arranging care for someone else who want to confirm a practitioner is registered.
• Employers and providers who need to check a registration number.

Before you start

• The person’s full name as they use it professionally. Spellings vary, so a registration number is better if you have one; it is often printed on letters, prescriptions, invoices or the practice website.^[7]
• Their profession. The register depends on the profession, not the workplace: a physiotherapist in a hospital and one in private practice are on the same CORU register.

Step by step

1. 1

   Find the right regulator for the profession

   Use the table below. Doctors are on the Medical Council register, nurses and midwives on NMBI, dentists on the Dental Council register, pharmacists on the PSI register, paramedics on PHECC, and physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, dietitians, podiatrists, optometrists, dispensing opticians, radiographers, social workers and social care workers on CORU.^[1][2]
2. 2

   Search the public register

   Every register above can be searched online. Most take a surname and first name; all of them accept a registration number, which avoids problems with spellings. None of the pages we read requires you to create an account to search.^{[4][7][8][12]}
3. 3

   Open the full record, not just the list

   The Medical Council warns that stopping at the results list can miss restrictions, undertakings, conditions or a suspension; click the registration number to open the complete entry.^[7] The NMBI search shows registration status, expiry date, the divisions the person is registered in and whether fitness to practise conditions are attached.^[8] CORU’s register shows the registration number, full name, renewal date, the county of practice and any fitness to practise details or conditions.^[2]
4. 4

   If the person is not found

   Try the registration number, another spelling, or a maiden or married name. The Medical Council suggests contacting its registration team if you still cannot find a doctor.^[7] If a person is using a CORU protected title without being on the register, CORU asks you to report it to enforcement@coru.ie with its referral form; using a protected title without registration is an offence.^[3]

Which register to check

What “registered” means, and what it does not

Registration means the regulator has checked the person’s qualification and that they meet its standards, and that a complaints and fitness to practise process applies to them.^[1] By law all doctors must register with the Medical Council to practise, it is illegal to practise as a nurse or midwife without being on the NMBI register, and only a registered dentist may practise dentistry.^[7][9][10] For CORU professions, once a register has been open for two years only registered people may use the protected title, and misusing a title can bring a Class A fine or up to six months in prison.^[1][3]

Registration is not a quality rating. It says nothing about waiting times, fees, manner or outcomes, and it does not rank one registered professional above another.

Professions without a statutory register

Psychologists. The title is not yet protected. CORU expects the first three registers, for clinical, counselling and educational psychologists, to open in 2027, followed by a two-year period for existing practitioners to register.^[5] Until then, membership of a professional society is a private accreditation, not statutory registration.

Counsellors and psychotherapists. The CORU registers are not open and CORU says it cannot give a definitive opening date.^[6] Bodies such as the IACP, the ICP and the IAHIP accredit their members and run directories, and Citizens Information advises checking a counsellor’s training and qualifications yourself, because they can range from short courses to master’s degrees.^[1] FairCare keeps these categories separate from psychologists and psychiatrists for this reason.

Hearing aid audiologists. Not a designated profession under the 2005 Act and not on any open or planned CORU register. The Irish Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists is a voluntary body with its own directory.^[2]

Complementary therapies such as acupuncture, homeopathy or massage have no registration requirement, although consumer, contract and criminal law still apply.^[14]

A dental nurse register also exists but is voluntary; only registered dental nurses may take X-rays on a dentist’s prescription.^[10]

Where complaints go

Each regulator handles complaints about its own registrants: the Medical Council about doctors’ health, performance and conduct; NMBI about nurses and midwives; CORU about the fitness to practise of its registrants, for events since 31 December 2014; PHECC about its practitioners.^{[1][7][8][13]} The Dental Council directs patients first to the dentist and the practice, then to the Dental Complaints Resolution Service, and notes it cannot order refunds or redone work.^[15] The PSI asks you to raise a concern with the supervising pharmacist first, then with the PSI.^[12]

Regulators deal with professional standards. Disputes about fees or service quality usually go to the provider’s own complaints process, the Ombudsman for public services, or consumer routes.

Common questions

Do I need an account to search a register?

None of the register pages we read asks for a login to search. Some sites show a sign-in link for registrants, which is separate.

A clinic says its therapist is “accredited”. Is that the same as registered?

No. Accreditation by a professional body is a private standard set by that body. Statutory registration is with the regulator named in law. For counsellors, psychotherapists and psychologists there is no statutory register yet, so accreditation is currently the only check available.

Can I check a specialist doctor’s specialty?

Yes. The Medical Council record shows the division; only doctors on the Specialist Division may practise independently as specialists. Dentistry recognises just two specialties, oral surgery and orthodontics.