Cost of Dietitian and Nutritionist Services
across the UK

# Dietitian and Nutritionist Services: Trade Body Accreditation

In the UK, dietitians are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), which sets standards for training, practice, and professional conduct. All state-registered dietitians must be HCPC-registered and will display the letters RD (Registered Dietitian) after their name. Nutritionists are not regulated by law in the same way, so it is important to look for accreditation from bodies such as the Register of Nutritional Therapists (REPS), the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), or the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy (BANT). These accrediting bodies set standards for qualifications, continuing professional development, and ethical conduct, though standards vary between organisations. Understanding which body has accredited your provider gives you assurance about their training level and professional accountability.

To verify a practitioner's credentials, you should check the HCPC register directly at www.hcpc-uk.org for dietitians, or search the relevant accreditation body's register for nutritionists, such as the CNHC or BANT directory. A genuine accredited provider will be happy to provide their registration or membership number and allow you to confirm it independently. This verification matters because accreditation protects you as a consumer: it means the practitioner has met recognised training standards, maintains professional insurance, follows a code of conduct, and is subject to complaints procedures if something goes wrong. It also reduces the risk of receiving advice from someone with no formal training or credentials, which could be ineffective or even harmful.

Accredited dietitians and nutritionists typically charge more than unaccredited practitioners, with HCPC-registered dietitians generally commanding the highest fees due to