NAREG and GesReg (Swiss health professions registers)

Both are active, person-based registers that list health professionals and their qualifications for patient protection, information to authorities in Switzerland and abroad, quality assurance and statistics. They also simplify cantonal licensing. They sit in one online application at nareg.ch, which is why many people say NAREG for both.

• GesReg is based on the federal Health Professions Act (GesBG), in force since 1 February 2020, and has been public since 1 February 2022. The Swiss Red Cross (SRK) keeps it for the Federal Office of Public Health.
• NAREG is based on the intercantonal agreement on the recognition of qualifications (IKV). The SRK keeps it for the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Health Ministers (GDK).

Doctors, dentists and pharmacists are not in either register; they are in MedReg.

• GesReg: registered nurses with the advanced federal diploma of higher education (HF), BSc graduates in nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, midwifery, nutrition and dietetics and optometry, MSc osteopaths, and holders of recognised foreign qualifications in these professions.
• NAREG: speech and language therapists, biomedical scientists, dental hygienists, radiographers, operating room technicians, orthoptists, podiatrists, paramedics, naturopaths and some other qualifications, plus master's graduates in the GesBG professions.
• Older qualifications: people who qualified in a GesBG profession under earlier rules, such as a nurse responsible for general care, are in NAREG and move to GesReg when they receive a licence to practise on their own professional responsibility.

1. Get your qualification recognised by the SRK. For nurses this starts with the free online PreCheck, then a full application with a CCPS or letter of good standing no more than three months old.
2. Pay the recognition fee. The SRK lists CHF 930 without compensatory measures, CHF 1,000 with them and CHF 550 for EU Annex V nursing or midwifery diplomas, plus possibly CHF 130 for GesReg or NAREG registration depending on the profession.
3. The office that recognises your qualification sends the data to the SRK, which enters you in the register.
4. When a canton grants you a Berufsausübungsbewilligung, the canton adds the licence and your work address.

If you hold a listed qualification but cannot find yourself, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. A one-off fee of CHF 130 is charged for adding a professional not previously registered.

The public search shows names, year of birth, gender, nationality, GLN and UID numbers, profession, qualification, country and date of qualification, date of recognition of a foreign qualification, and details of any licence to practise on your own responsibility with its address. Your full date of birth and regulatory measures are recorded but not public. Criminal sanctions are not in the registers. You can request a complete extract of your own data and correct errors through a change request.

• Looking in the wrong register. A recognised foreign nurse is in GesReg, not MedReg.
• Gaps for some professions. Speech therapists, opticians, optometrists and druggists were only entered from 1 January 2015, so some older holders without a licence are missing.
• Treating registration as a licence. Registration records your qualification; independent practice still needs a cantonal licence.