About the Voluntary Register of Complementary Practitioners

The Voluntary Register of Complementary Practitioners was established in 2004 and is important for anyone requiring information about registered practitioners and approved practitioner organisations.

The aim of the register scheme is to help ensure patient safety and consumer rights for anyone seeking a registered complementary practitioner. In addition, the scheme also aims to contribute to seriousness and orderly business relationship among complementary practitioners. The registration only applies to complementary practice directed at humans. Treatment of animals falls outside.

Voluntary registration

The registration is voluntary, and there is no requirement for practitioners to register in order to work as one. The Act relating to the alternative treatment of disease, illness etc. applies to everyone, regardless of whether the practitioner is registered or not.

Only practitioners who are members of an approved practitioner organisation can be registered in the register.

The registration must not be confused with the authorisation as a healthcare professional. Only those who are registered as a practitioner of complementary practice in the register are entitled to use the designation «registered» in their professional title as a complementary practitioner. The term is not a protected title.

Approval of practitioner organisations

The Norwegian Directorate of Health is responsible for approving practitioner organisations that may participate in the registration scheme. A number of formal, ethical and business requirements must be satisfied if the practitioner organisation is to be approved. No assessment is done concerning the professional aspect or the quality of the work of the practitioners or the type of treatment.

The practitioner organisation has to fulfill a number of requirements in order to be approved. This includes having statutes stating that the practitioner must undertake to perform his or her business responsibly, provide patients with the necessary information and deal with health and personal information in a proper manner. The statutes of the practitioner organisation must also provide patients with the right to submit complaints against the professional conduct of the practitioners.  It is the organisation and not the public authorities that imposes professional requirements for the members. The practitioners organisations may have different academic requirements within the same mode of treatment.

Fee and charge

A registration fee must be paid for the initial registration, and thereafter an annual fee to maintain the registration. Non-payment will lead to deletion.