The Register of Clinical Technologists (the RCT) – formerly the Voluntary Register of Clinical Technologists – was formed in 2000 with the aim of protecting the public by advocating statutory, professional regulation for Clinical Technologists. You can download our information leaflet for patients and the public here.
The register now holds the details of over 2,400 healthcare professionals who have achieved the standards set out by the RCT through education or equivalence. They abide by a regularly-reviewed Code of Professional Conduct and take part in continuing professional development (CPD) to maintain their professional status for the protection of the public at all times.
Our register has been accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) under its Accredited Registers programme since September 2015. Accredited registers are a new approach to regulation recently established by government in preference to statutory registers. In order to obtain accreditation an organisation must show they have met the PSA’s specific, demanding standards relating to governance, standards for registrants (including education and training) and management of the register, by way of a rigorous application process. Organisations are then re-accredited each year provided they can show they are still meeting the PSA standards. The PSA released a statement recommending the use of practitioners who are registered on accredited registers only. It is important that people who work in health and care are trained, skilled and treat patients and service users well. You can now check the PSA register for a particular healthcare professional via: www.checkapractitioner.com
As an accredited register we are also part of the Accredited Registers’ Collaborative and have signed up to the Information Sharing Protocol in respect of registrants removed from our register due to disciplinary (Fitness to Practise) procedures. You can read the protocol here.
We register technologists working in nuclear medicine, radiotherapy physics, radiation physics, medical engineering, radiation engineering, rehabilitation engineering and renal technology.
As one of the three professional bodies responsible for the administration of the RCT, the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) has included data relating to RCT applicants and RCT registrants in its own Privacy Policy which can be viewed here. Section 3.7 of the Privacy Policy refers to RCT applicants and Section 3.8 of the Privacy Policy refers to RCT registrants.
New Scope of Practice: Bone Densitometry – Primary and Equivalence route applications now open.
The Register of Clinical Technologists (RCT) is pleased to announce that a new scope of practice has been developed for anyone working as a Bone Densitometry Technologist. Primary entry into this new scope is now open for anyone who has completed the Royal Osteoporosis Society National Training Scheme for Bone Densitometry course. Full details for this scope of practice can be found here. To apply applicants should follow the primary route application process selecting the DXA option on the application form and include a copy of their ROS Bone Densitometry course certificate when submitting.
To apply via the equivalence route applicants should refer to the equivalence route guidance here.
With the opening of the Equivalence Route for Bone Densitometry The RCT is now looking for Bone Densitometrists to become volunteer Equivalence Assessors. If you are interested in volunteering for this position please visit the Getting Involved page for the role description and application form
Transfer of Public Voluntary Register of Sonographers (PVRS) to RCT on 1 March 2021
Following Professional Standards Authority (PSA) approval, the Public Voluntary Register of Sonographers (PVRS) transferred to the Register of Clinical Technologists (RCT) on February 28th 2021. You can see the original consultation here.
The PVRS was a register for those individuals working as sonographers whose practice includes medical ultrasound. Many of those working in this field are already eligible for statutory registration through their existing qualifications via the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) or the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). However, there are also a significant number of sonographers to whom these routes are not available. By transferring to the RCT these individuals became part of a PSA accredited register and will now work with the RCT to continue our push for statutory registration for all our registrants.
Sonographers are a separate professional group within the RCT register alongside the existing physics and engineering groups. As the RCT is accredited by the PSA it is better equipped to protect the public and is in a better position to meet the costs of PSA accreditation. A move to a PSA accredited voluntary register was recommended by the PSA in their July 2019 report to Health Education England on the regulation of sonographers. You can read the full report here.
Since 2011 government policy has been set against the statutory regulation of new aspirant professional groups of which sonographers are one. The RCT along with the SCoR, the British Medical Ultrasound Society, Royal College of Radiologists and the Consortium for the Accreditation of Sonographic Education and other stakeholder organisations, will continue to press the case for the statutory registration of clinical technologists and sonographers. You can read more about regulating further professions on the HCPC website here.
The SCoR and the RCT would like to thank all who have supported the PVRS over the many years since it was originally founded by the United Kingdom Association of Sonographers (UKAS). UKAS merged with the SCoR in January 2009 and transferred to the RCT in 2021.
The Register of Clinical Technologists, Fairmount House, 230 Tadcaster Road, York, YO24 1ES
Telephone: 01904 550500
Email: enquiries@therct.org.uk
Registered in England and Wales (No. 3080332)