Physiotherapists are to have their professional standards monitored and regulated for the first time following the establishment of a registration board for the profession.

In future all physiotherapists must be State-registered in order to treat patients.

The establishment of a Physiotherapists Registration Board is part of a process aimed at regulating the health and social care professions in the interests of public protection and patient safety.

The Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP), which represents over 3,200 members of the profession, has welcomed the establishment of the new board.

However, since the passing of enabling legislation in 2005, to date only five out of a planned 12 regulatory boards for social and healthcare professionals outside medicine and nursing have been established.

According to Jill Long, President of the  Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP), the physiotherapist regulation is a significant step forward for public protection and patient safety.

"A Physiotherapists Registration Board will require all physiotherapists working in Ireland to be registered, which will ensure that only registered physiotherapists can use the title and treat patients, she said.

"The ISCP has been calling for such public protection through regulation for many decades and at long last the public can now be confident that the physiotherapist treating them is State-registered and has therefore met the necessary physiotherapy standards required to practise."

Ms Long called on the Minister for Health to now take action to protect both the titles of physiotherapist and physical therapist in one register to maximise protection of the public.

"This would ensure that all those providing physiotherapy/physical therapy in Ireland are working to the same standards of care, thus eliminating the potential for confusion and so protecting the public".