MOH to require registration of psychologists in S'pore after concerns on 'client safety' surface

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is working towards registering psychologists in Singapore.

The focus will be on psychologists providing direct care, involving higher-risk assessments and interventions across various sectors.

An inter-agency committee consisting of practitioners, regulators, and service providers, from both the public and private sectors, has been set up to oversee the process.

Moving forward, psychologists who wish to practice in Singapore would need to ensure that they meet certain requisite standards of law.

"This will raise professional standards, safeguard patient safety and increase public confidence in psychological services," said Senior Minister of State for MOH Janil Puthucheary during the Committee of Supply debate on Mar. 7, 2025.

Regulating psychological practice

The ministry added that it conducts periodic assessments of healthcare services and professions to monitor their risk profiles, and considers additional safeguards, if necessary.

During its assessment of psychological practice, concerns were surfaced over "client safety", MOH said.

MOH attributed this to the increase in psychologists practicing in the private and community sectors.

For instance, the Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC) recently expressed "deep concern" regarding listings on Carousell offering counselling services, in an Instagram post on Feb. 27, 2025.

At least 16 such listings were made by unqualified counsellors, SAC noted, or where qualifications were not clearly detailed.

SAC's president, Andy Lam, said:

"In the absence of regulation, the risk of engaging unqualified counsellors remains pronounced, which might result in more harm than good in the mental health recovery process."

Reviewing HCSA

Back in February 2024, Member of Parliament Yip Hon Weng raised a question in Parliament on whether MOH was reviewing the Healthcare Services Act (HCSA) 2020 to better regulate mental health professionals, including registered psychologists.

MOH then replied that it was working with agencies, service providers, and professional associations to update the risk assessment for psychological practice.

The HCSA regulates healthcare services in Singapore.

Currently, the HCSA allows for the regulation of a wider scope of healthcare services if needed, such as allied health services, nursing services, traditional medicine, and complementary and alternative medicine.

Services that do not involve direct patient care (e.g. assessment, diagnosis, prevention, treatment of a medical condition or disorder), however, are not within the scope of HCSA.

MOH said that further details will be announced in due course.

Top photo from Canva