BASRaT is the UK regulator for Sport Rehabilitation Graduates. The BASRaT register has been approved as an Accredited Register by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.

Healthcare Regulation

BASRaT and the Accredited Register – Press Release January 2015

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) has re-launched the Accredited Register with a new name and logo to accurately reflect the status of registers. It reinforces the relationship between registers such as BASRaT to the PSA and by removing the word 'voluntary', clarifies that BASRaT registrants are held to the standards required of them to practice as Graduate Sport Rehabilitators.

The PSA will refer to registration and accredited registers as they refer to regulation and statutory regulators to simplify the language and distinguish the healthcare regulation they oversee. In 2014, BASRaT became an Accredited Register. Patients, service users and the public are able to choose with confidence a Graduate Sport Rehabilitator belonging to a register vetted and approved by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) for Health and Social Care. The PSA itself is set up by the Department of Health and is administered by an independent body, accountable to Parliament.

Sport Rehabilitation is formally recognised as a health care occupation. Sport Rehabilitators on BASRaT's register can display the Accredited Register quality mark, a sign that they belong to a register which meets the Professional Standards Authority’s robust standards.

The Chairman for BASRaT, Steve Aspinall said:

"Graduate Sport Rehabilitators have been working at the highest levels in sports and exercise based injury prevention, treatment and rehabilitation for more than ten years, including working in key rehabilitation roles for the ministry of defence across the UK and Europe, providing high quality care for our injured servicemen from the Army, Navy and RAF. The quality mark will give extra peace of mind for anyone looking for a health care occupation specialising in musculoskeletal injuries, exercise based rehabilitation and fitness. It will let them know that a Graduate Sport Rehabilitator who holds the mark is committed to high standards. BASRAT is pleased to allow Graduate Sport Rehabilitators that meet the far reaching standards of our register, as accredited by the Professional Standards Authority, to display the quality mark."

Harry Cayton, Chief Executive of the Professional Standards Authority said:

"We are very pleased to accredit BASRaT’s register of Graduate Sport Rehabilitators. Bringing Sport Rehabilitators into a broad framework of assurance is good for patients, service users and the public and is the best way to promote quality. The scheme offers enhanced consumer protection to anyone looking for health and social care services, and gives Sport Rehabilitators the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment."

Accredited Voluntary Registers (AVR) Scheme

Press Release

Independent quality mark for Sport Rehabilitators

13 December 2013

From today, patients, service users and the public will be able to choose a Graduate Sport Rehabilitator belonging to a register vetted and approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care. The British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers voluntary register has been accredited under a new scheme set up by the Department of Health and administered by an independent body, accountable to Parliament. Sport Rehabilitation is now formally recognised as a health care occupation.

Sport Rehabilitators on BASRaT’s register will be able to display the Accredited Voluntary Register quality mark, a sign that they belong to a register which meets the Professional Standards Authority’s robust standards.

The Chairman for BASRaT, Steve Aspinall said:

“Graduate Sport Rehabilitators have been working at the highest levels in sports and exercise based injury prevention, treatment and rehabilitation for more than ten years, including working in key rehabilitation roles for the ministry of defence across the UK and Europe, providing high quality care for our injured servicemen from the Army, Navy and RAF. The quality mark will give extra peace of mind for anyone looking for a health care occupation specialising in musculoskeletal injuries, exercise based rehabilitation and fitness. It will let them know that a Graduate Sport Rehabilitator who holds the mark is committed to high standards. BASRAT is pleased to allow Graduate Sport Rehabilitators that meet the far reaching standards of our register, as accredited by the Professional Standards Authority, to display the quality mark.”

Harry Cayton, Chief Executive of the Professional Standards Authority said:

“We are very pleased to accredit BASRaT’s register of Graduate Sport Rehabilitators. Bringing Sport Rehabilitators into a broad framework of assurance is good for patients, service users and the public and is the best way to promote quality. The scheme offers enhanced consumer protection to anyone looking for health and social care services, and gives Sport Rehabilitators the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment.”

Further Information:

Professional Standards Authority

History of regulation

Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence now called the Professional Standards Authority - Update Oct 2013
from BASRaT Chair, Steve Aspinall

Please note that the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) should now be referred to as the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). For further information about the PSA and the Accredited Voluntary Register (AVR) scheme please click here

BASRaT completes application to the Professional Standards Authority: April 2013

BASRaT has now submitted an application to the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) with the aim to become accredited and join the Accredited Voluntary Register. The PSA are currently reviewing our application and we shall keep members and visitors updated as to our progress.

For more information please visit the Voluntary Register page of the PSA website, or contact communications@basrat.org with any questions.

Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence - Update April 2012
from BASRaT Chair, Steve Aspinall

After working towards gaining statutory regulation for a number of years and the recommendation by the HPC to regulate our field, the Government then went on to publish the Command Paper ‘Enabling Excellence – Autonomy and Accountability for Healthcare Workers, Social Workers and Social Care Workers’ in early 2011. This was essentially a policy move away from the statutory regulation process for the new applicant professions, including those, like BASRaT, that the HPC had already made a formal recommendation to government to statutory regulate. The Council for Healthcare and Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) is the overarching council for healthcare in the UK, and above the HPC. The CHRE promotes the health and well-being of patients and the public in the regulation of health professionals. They scrutinise and oversee the work of the nine regulatory bodies that set standards for training and conduct of health professionals and are setting up an accreditation scheme for assured voluntary registers that will ensure practitioners on that register meet high standards of healthcare practice.

BASRaT has already completed a test day with the CHRE and is planning to work to obtain the CHRE kitemark for a healthcare organisation. The current estimation of timescales is 12-18 months, and with BASRaT's high and equitable standards across our registered membership and accredited institutions, along with the considerable documentation and evidence BASRaT has prepared, we don’t foresee any major hurdles in successfully obtaining the healthcare kitemark. Clearly, nothing is guaranteed, but we are doing everything we can to ensure that we both fully understand the process and have every chance of success. More information can be found at the CHRE website.

Health Professions Council - Update January 2012
from BASRaT Chair, Steve Aspinall

After working towards gaining statutory regulation for a number of years and the recommendation by the HPC to regulate our field, the Government then went on to publish the Command Paper ‘Enabling Excellence – Autonomy and Accountability for Healthcare Workers, Social Workers and Social Care Workers’ in early 2011. This is a policy move towards voluntary as opposed to statutory regulation, and both the HPC and the CHRE are going through a consultation and development process to determine how this might work in practice. We will continue to work with the HPC as they decide how to progress with formal registration of our area, and we will also look at obtaining the CHRE kitemark accreditation for a healthcare organisation. More details can be found at: Aspirant Group kitemark .

Health Professions Council - Update March 20th 2011
from BASRaT Chair, Steve Aspinall

Following the latest news about statutory regulation, it is now clear there are a number of issues that need to be addressed / resolved prior to this progressing through the legislative processes in a timely fashion. The Health Professions Council (HPC) made a surprising decision in February, and to all intents and purposes they did miss a number of stages of the statutory regulation process, there are obviously organisations who have significant concerns about the validity of this decision. It is also clear from the coalition government's following white paper (see below for a link to the paper)that the goal posts have moved, but whether that affects our profession is also dependent upon the perceived potential for public harm by our professional area. There have obviously been discussions about the timing of the HPC announcement followed almost immediately by the release of the white paper, whether it was deliberate or coincidence remains to be seen. Regardless, the HPC currently do not know yet how this will proceed, they have a meeting on the 31st March to discuss and further examine all of these issues, I will pass on any news shortly after that. It is also worth noting that the coalition proposed voluntary registers for future healthcare regulation, detailed in the white paper, will be carried out by existing regulators (HPC for our field) and could be an effective way to regulate, it really would depend on the execution.

" Enabling Excellence: Autonomy and Accountability for Health and Social Care Staff " - LINK TO DEPT. OF HEALTH WEBSITE PAPERS .

Health Professions Council - February 21st 2011
from BASRaT Chair, Steve Aspinall

Following on from the statutory regulation process recently grinding to a halt at the end of 2010, with the Health Professions Council (HPC) sending out communications to that effect, the HPC agreed last week to make a formal recommendation to the Secretary of State for Health and to Scottish Ministers for the regulation of the professional area of Sport Rehabilitation and Sports Therapy.

The History of Statutory Regulation for Sport Rehabilitation and Sports Therapy

Back in 2005 both BASRaT and the Society of Sports Therapy (SOST) submitted applications to the HPC for statutory regulation of their respective bodies. Although both bodies had met to discuss working together on this process, BASRaT's minimum standards of a high quality BSc (Hons) degree were incompatible with the variable level of qualifications to enter the SOST register at that time, hence two separate applications were advised by the HPC. Following the submission of the documents, the SOST application was heard first, and there was a subsequent decision by the HPC that only one application would be accepted for the professional area that covers both Sport Rehabilitation and Sports Therapy, so the application and subsequent documents continue from this document.

It is important to note at this stage that the statutory regulation application is not made for a professional body, but for a professional area and scope of practice. All professional bodies working in this field are involved in the statutory regulation process at every step of the way, in this case both BASRaT and the SOST have been attending regular meetings and working parties to move this process forwards, along with other interested parties including the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. There were a number of issues to address which all parties worked on, and culminated in the SOST submitting a document to the HPC examining the overlap between our area and other Allied Health Professions in July 2010. This is when the process appeared to come to a stop, to be resurrected last week.

What next?

The process is now in the hands of the politicians, but this is obviously a major and timely development in the process. The regulated titles for this profession, for Sports Therapists, Sport Rehabilitators and others, is still open to debate, but we will keep you updated. BASRaT will obviously work to ensure that these future standards are not just focused on the minimum requirements of a BSc (Hons) degree, but commensurate with those of a safe and effective healthcare professional, which has always been the standard in our accredited programmes. The proposed register will be open to all professionals who can meet the minimum standards, although the majority of appropriate courses in this area come under the auspices of either the British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers or the Society of Sport Therapy.

HPC Decision Meeting Summary - PDF document.

Link to HPC Website - detailed of minutes and documents.

Statutory Regulation and the future of Sport Rehabilitation - from Steve Aspinall, BASRaT Chair

BASRaT is the only UK organisation that solely accredits BSc (Hons) degree level programmes in the field of Sports and Exercise Medicine. As this field is developing within the UK, many institutions are being encouraged to run courses in this area, often without appropriate expertise, facilities or resources. We strongly believe, that it is both unethical and inappropriate for the training of this UK Sports Medicine professional to develop in this manner, especially in numbers that are clearly inappropriate for the UK job market. As front line medical professionals, education and training in this area needs to be of an equitable and high standard across the board. This is why all BASRaT accredited institutions undergo a rigorous accreditation process, that covers everything from expertise, facilities and resources to content, assessment, contact hours, staff/student ratios and clinical experience. This is, and always has been, the position that BASRaT represents and we will continue to fight for this in the development of our profession and appropriate statutory regulation.

There is a lot of misinformation about the process of statutory regulation, but the only real source for accurate information is clearly the Health Professions Council themselves. You do not have to be a member of any organisation to be included in the statutory regulation of a particular profession, although this can obviously help by ensuring that you meet the high standards set by professional bodies like BASRaT.Azure.

A word on professional bodies:

" Normally, if an application is made to the Council, this application is made by a professional body. This is helpful to the process of regulating a new group, since it is the professional body who have the knowledge and expertise of the new group, and who can advise the Council on, for example, current educational standards or requirements, the development of the profession, and its relationship to other professions. Their application provides the opportunity for the professional body to give information to our Council about how their group meets our standards, and for the Council to ask questions of the representatives.

However, we recognise that some members of an aspirant group may not be members of the professional organisation which contacts us. Regulation with us is not dependent upon being a member of a professional body. If we regulate a new profession, then we will regulate all members of that profession who meet the standards we set, regardless of whether they choose to be members of any professional body.

We also recognise that in some cases there is more than one professional body for a group. In this case, we strongly encourage professional bodies to work together on a joint application where possible, or to co-operate on joint work around standards, or joint work to show how their various memberships are similar / different. If there is more than one professional body, we would expect to work with all relevant organisations wherever possible, and would welcome input from a variety of different groups to ensure that we can regulate the new group effectively."

Source: HPC website www.hpc-uk.org/aboutregistration/newprofessions/organisations