Do I need CQC registration for a private clinic?

How CQC decides whether you need to register

CQC registers activities, not job titles. You need to register if you carry on a regulated activity in England, and doing so without registration is a criminal offence.

The regulated activities are set out in Schedule 1 of the 2014 regulations. For private clinics, four matter most:

The listed professionals

The first activity is the one most practices trip over, and it depends on a short list. The professionals who bring treatment into scope are doctors, dentists and dental care professionals, nurses, midwives, paramedics, radiographers, biomedical and clinical scientists, operating department practitioners, and physician and anaesthesia associates. CQC's guidance on this activity says plainly that physiotherapists, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, opticians and dietitians are not on the list. Osteopaths, chiropractors and podiatrists are not on it either.

So the question is: does anyone on that list treat, or supervise treatment, here? If yes, the whole team is usually in scope.

Does a physio clinic need CQC registration?

Usually not. A clinic where the treatment is given only by HCPC-registered physiotherapists and podiatrists, GOsC-registered osteopaths or GCC-registered chiropractors does not carry on the treatment activity, because none of those professions is listed.

It changes when you add something that is regulated in its own right:

• A listed professional joins the team. A sports physician, a nurse giving injections or a paramedic in a multidisciplinary team can bring the clinic's treatment into scope.
• Diagnostic imaging. The regulations exempt two things by name: X-rays taken by chiropractors and the use of ultrasound equipment by physiotherapists. Other imaging, such as diagnostic ultrasound by an osteopath or podiatrist, or MRI, needs a closer look.
• Surgery. Nail surgery and nail bed procedures on the foot are exempt when done with local anaesthetic or none. Podiatric surgery under general anaesthetic is regulated.

If you are setting up on your own, our guide on starting a private physiotherapy practice covers what you do need: HCPC registration, insurance and rooms.

Do therapists need to register with CQC?

Counsellors, psychotherapists, CBT therapists and HCPC-registered psychologists do not need to register for their therapy work, because none of them is a listed professional.

The exceptions come from who else is involved:

• A psychiatrist treating patients, or prescribing, brings the service into scope. CQC's own example is a psychiatrist who practises solely as a psychotherapist and does not use the title or medical powers: that work is not in scope.
• A mental health nurse delivering therapy in their nursing capacity is a listed professional.
• A social worker providing psychological therapy for a mental disorder is also in scope.

CQC also says that diagnosing ADHD or autism on its own is not treatment, so an assessment-only service does not need to register for the treatment activity. Starting medication does.

Nutritionists and dietitians

Dietitians are named by CQC as outside the list, and nutritionists are not statutorily regulated at all, so a nutrition practice giving advice and plans does not need registration. The line is prescribed weight-loss medicine. A doctor prescribing for weight loss in a clinic is the slimming clinics activity, and a nurse or other listed professional treating obesity with a prescribed medicine is the treatment activity. If a separate registered provider does the prescribing, their registration is what counts. If your clinic employs or contracts the prescriber, it is likely yours. Setting up a therapy practice? See our therapy and psychology guide.

CQC registration for aesthetics clinics

In England, interventions done purely for cosmetic purposes are outside the treatment activity, and the surgical activity specifically excludes injecting a substance under the skin to enhance appearance. So toxin and filler done for appearance, chemical peels, and laser or IPL hair removal do not on their own need CQC registration, whether a doctor, nurse or non-medical practitioner does them.

You are likely to need registration if you offer any of these:

• Cosmetic surgery where instruments or equipment go into the body, such as liposuction.
• Treatment of a medical condition, such as toxin for excessive sweating or migraine, given by a listed professional.
• Prescribed weight-loss medicines, under the slimming clinics or treatment activity.
• IV drips using prescription-only products, given by or under a listed professional, that claim to change how the body works. CQC treats these as treatment, not complementary therapy.
• Laser or IPL where the service relies on a listed professional's clinical skills, is combined with prescribing, or is sold as being done by a doctor or nurse in that capacity.

Describing a cosmetic service as medical can change its status. A national licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetics is also on the way. Our guide to starting an aesthetics clinic covers where that stands.

Private GPs and consultants

Doctors are listed professionals, so a private GP service or a consultant's own clinic usually needs registration. There are two routes that can mean you do not register yourself.

Practising privileges

The regulations treat a doctor granted practising privileges by a registered hospital as employed by it. If you see patients at that hospital under its policies and management, its registration covers the work. The protection only goes as far as the hospital's arrangements: patients seen in your own rented rooms, through your own company or with your own staff fall outside it.

The consulting room exemption

Schedule 2 of the regulations has a narrow exemption for doctors treating patients in a surgery or consulting room, where the doctor is on the medical performers list for a designated body, or employed by a designated body such as an NHS trust. It does not cover treatment under general anaesthetic or IV sedation, imaging, cosmetic surgery and several other procedures, and CQC says it does not extend to remote consultations by phone or video. CQC's own explanation of it is not easy to follow, so if you hope to rely on it, get CQC's view in writing first.

Our guide on going private as a consultant covers the rest of the setup.

Diagnostic imaging and tests

Diagnostic and screening procedures are regulated whoever carries them out. That includes X-ray, MRI and ultrasound used to examine the body, endoscopy, taking tissue or fluid to diagnose a condition, lab testing and many physiological measurements. A private ultrasound scan clinic or a clinic that takes blood and sends it to a laboratory will normally need to register.

The exceptions are specific. They include blood and urine samples that are not sent to a lab, X-rays by chiropractors, ultrasound by physiotherapists, non-ambulatory blood pressure readings, 12-lead ECGs, peak flow, spot pulse oximetry and fitness screening in a gym. If what you plan to offer is not on that list, ask CQC before you start.

What registration involves and what it costs

You apply through CQC's online portal. Expect to provide:

• A statement of purpose setting out what you provide, where and for whom.
• An enhanced DBS check for the individual provider, partners and registered manager. CQC says the certificate can take up to 60 working days, and you cannot submit without it.
• A registered manager, if you are a company or partnership. An individual running the service day to day usually manages it themselves.
• Policies, an interview and sometimes a site visit.

CQC does not publish a target time from submission to decision, so plan for months, not weeks, and do not take bookings for regulated services until you are registered.

Fees: CQC's fee table for independent healthcare shows £1,867 a year for a community healthcare service at one location, the category that covers private doctors and clinics, and £1,743 for a single specialty service. An individual registered only for diagnostic and screening procedures pays £309. The table is labelled 2024/25, and the British Dental Association reported that CQC kept fees unchanged for 2026/27. CQC has since consulted on changing its fees, so check the current figure before you budget.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

CQC covers England only. The other nations have their own regulators, and their rules differ:

• Scotland: Healthcare Improvement Scotland registers independent clinics where services are provided by a doctor, dentist, nurse, midwife or dental care professional. That includes nurse-led aesthetics clinics, which do not need CQC registration in England. HIS lists an application fee of £3,996 for an independent clinic in its 2026/27 fees booklet, plus an annual fee.
• Wales: Healthcare Inspectorate Wales registers independent hospitals, clinics and medical agencies, and services using Class 3B or 4 lasers or IPL must register as an independent hospital, including in salons.
• Northern Ireland: the RQIA registers private doctors (doctors without a substantive HSC post who are not on the NI GP performers list) and establishments using Class 3B or 4 lasers or intense light sources.