When you choose a healthcare professional, you are placing something incredibly important in their hands: your health, your body and, sometimes, your vulnerability.

But how do you know that the person treating you is properly qualified and legally registered to practise in South Africa?

Fortunately, there is a simple way to check.

Before your next appointment, you can verify whether your health practitioner is registered with the appropriate South African statutory health council. It takes only a few minutes, and it is one of the simplest things you can do to make a more informed decision about your healthcare.

This is particularly important when you are seeking care involving intimate examinations or sensitive health concerns, including pelvic health, sexual health, women’s health and physiotherapy.

In South Africa, certain healthcare professions are regulated by statutory health councils.

Registration means that a practitioner is recognised by the relevant statutory council and is subject to the professional, ethical and regulatory requirements that apply to their profession.

It also provides a mechanism through which concerns about professional conduct can be addressed.

The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) regulates professions including medicine, physiotherapy, psychology, occupational therapy, dietetics, radiography and several other health professions.

The Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA) regulates a range of allied and complementary health professions, including chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, osteopathy and therapeutic massage therapy. The AHPCSA states that registration is legally required for practitioners working within its regulated professions.

Checking registration does not tell you everything about a practitioner. It does not replace asking about qualifications, experience, scope of practice or whether the practitioner is a good fit for your needs.

But it is an important first step.

Two statutory bodies set standards and protect patients:

HPCSA – regulates conventional professions, including medicine, physiotherapy, psychology and dietetics.

AHPCSA – regulates complementary and allied professions, such as chiropractic, massage therapy, homeopathy and acupuncture.

What is the HPCSA and AHPCSA?

1. HPCSA providers: search the iRegister by name or number at hpcsa.co.za.

2. AHPCSA providers: view the profession-specific registers at ahpcsa.co.za/practitioners.

3. Confirm the status is active – not suspended or erased.

4. Still unsure? Contact the council directly – they’re there to help.

No.

This is an important distinction.

Registration is a baseline safeguard, not a guarantee of the quality of every aspect of care.

A registration check can help you establish whether someone is registered with the appropriate statutory council. It cannot tell you whether you will feel comfortable with them, whether their communication style suits you, or whether they have specific experience in your particular condition.

You can also ask:

• What qualifications do you hold?
• Are you registered with the relevant statutory council?
• What is your registration number?
• Do you have experience treating my condition?
• Is this treatment within your professional scope of practice?
• What will the assessment involve?
• What are my options if I do not feel comfortable with part of the assessment or treatment?

You are allowed to ask these questions.

Pelvic health can involve some of the most vulnerable moments in healthcare.

An assessment may involve discussing your bladder, bowel, sexual health, pregnancy, childbirth, pain or intimate relationships. Depending on the reason for your appointment, an examination may also involve areas of the body that you would not normally expose to another person.

You should never feel that you have to surrender your boundaries simply because someone is wearing a healthcare uniform or calling themselves a practitioner.

Before an intimate assessment, you have the right to understand:

• Who is treating you
• If an internal exam falls in that individuals scope (eg. internal pelvic exams are not in the scope of massage therapy)
• What their professional qualifications are
• Which council they are registered with
• Why an examination is being recommended
• What the examination will involve
• Whether you can ask questions
• Whether you can pause or stop the examination
• What alternatives may be available

Good healthcare should make room for informed consent, questions and boundaries.

Trust yourself enough to ask questions.

If you feel uncomfortable about a practitioner’s qualifications, registration, behaviour, treatment recommendations or boundaries, you can pause the appointment and seek clarification.

If you have concerns about professional conduct, you can also contact the relevant statutory council to ask about the appropriate complaints process.

The purpose of professional regulation is ultimately public protection. The AHPCSA, for example, states that one of its functions is to investigate complaints relating to the professional conduct of practitioners, interns and students.

Consider a police report and obtaining a case number.

Sometimes being a pelvic health professional means sitting in meetings, quietly discussing and brainstorming how we can better protect the public from misconduct. It is a sad reality that individuals sometimes offer pelvic health services outside their scope of practice, or without any professional background at all – leaving patients traumatised by the experience, and widening the gap between them and the care they so bravely sought in the first place.

The consequences can be profound.

Pelvic health is deeply personal. When someone is already vulnerable because they are experiencing pain, sexual difficulties, bladder or bowel symptoms, pregnancy-related changes or the aftermath of trauma, an unsafe healthcare experience can have consequences that extend far beyond the appointment itself.

And this is not unique to South Africa.

While working abroad, I met patients who had been put in this same vulnerable position. No matter where you are in the world, I urge you to check your provider’s professional registration.

Registration checks are quick, free, and one of the most effective tools you have. Save this page. Check before your next appointment. Share it with someone you love.

Patient safety starts with informed patients, too.

Useful Official Resources

HPCSA: Health Professions Council of South Africa

HPCSA Practitioner Verification: Check an HPCSA practitioner’s registration

AHPCSA: Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa

AHPCSA Practitioner Registers: Search the AHPCSA practitioner registers

Massage Therapy Association: Find Registered Massage Therapists

With Love,

Candice Langford Physiotherapy