Frequently asked questions

Both hold recognised qualifications, are listed on a public register and are welcome on CONNECT. Registered Dietitians are regulated by law: by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in the UK, or by CORU in Ireland. “Dietitian” is a legally protected title, and dietitians can work with medical conditions in clinical settings. Registered Nutritionists are on the Association for Nutrition’s UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN), which requires degree-level nutrition science knowledge, and specialise in evidence-based nutrition for health and wellbeing. The AfN registers nutritionists at two grades: Registered Nutritionist (RNutr), and Registered Associate Nutritionist (ANutr) for those earlier in their career, who work with professional support in place. Every CONNECT profile shows which grade the practitioner holds.

What matters most: anyone can legally call themselves a “nutritionist” in the UK with no qualifications at all. CONNECT only lists professionals whose registration we have checked against the official registers. Our guide to dietitians and nutritionists explains the differences in more detail.

Before a practitioner can appear in the directory, our team checks their registration number against the official public register: the HCPC register for UK dietitians, the CORU register for dietitians in Ireland, and the AfN/UKVRN register for nutritionists. We confirm the name matches and the registration is current. Only verified practitioners are ever shown in search results.

You can check any practitioner yourself on the same registers. Our step-by-step guide shows how.

Most practitioners offer a free 15-minute discovery call: a no-commitment chat to see whether you click, ask about their approach and decide if they are right for you before booking a paid consultation. Discovery calls are booked like any other appointment but confirm instantly with no payment. We recommend starting with one.

Each practitioner sets their own prices, which are always shown up-front on their profile. There are no hidden fees for clients, and you pay exactly the price listed. Initial consultations typically range from around £60 to £150 depending on the practitioner’s experience and specialism, with follow-ups usually less.

Cancel with 24 hours’ notice or more and you get a full refund, automatically, to your original payment method. Cancellations with less than 24 hours’ notice and no-shows are non-refundable, because the practitioner has reserved that time for you. If a practitioner cancels on you, you are always refunded in full. Details are in our terms.

Yes. Payments are processed by Stripe, one of the world’s largest payment providers. Your card details go directly to Stripe and never touch our servers.

We collect the minimum we need to run the service, we never sell data, and we use no advertising trackers. Health-related information exists only where you choose to share it, with your explicit consent. The full picture, including your rights and how long we keep things, is in our privacy policy.

You can delete your account any time from your dashboard settings, or start from our delete my data page. Profile data, messages and account details are deleted. Appointment and financial records are anonymised (your identity removed) and kept for up to 8 years for professional record-keeping and legal reasons.

Some practitioners on CONNECT have specialist experience supporting people with eating disorders, usually working alongside GPs and specialist services. Nutrition support is one part of wider care, not a substitute for it.

Listing is free: no subscription, no listing fee. We charge a 10% commission on bookings that originate through the platform, deducted automatically from each payout. Clients you bring from elsewhere and manage off-platform are yours. Because CONNECT is run by the non-profit foodfacts.org, every booking funds the fight against food misinformation.

Two credential types only: Registered Dietitians (HCPC-registered in the UK, or CORU-registered in Ireland) and AfN-registered nutritionists (UKVRN) at either grade: Registered Nutritionist (RNutr) or Registered Associate Nutritionist (ANutr). Practitioners across the UK and the island of Ireland are welcome. We verify every registration against the public register before your profile can be published, and we may re-check periodically. If you hold neither registration, we can’t list you: it is the foundation of the trust clients place in the directory.

Yes. You must hold professional indemnity insurance appropriate to the services you offer through CONNECT, and keep it current for as long as you are listed. You confirm this during onboarding, and it is a condition of our terms.

Payouts go through Stripe Connect. You connect your own Stripe account during onboarding, clients pay at booking, and your share (the price minus the 10% platform commission) is routed to you via Stripe’s standard payout schedule, typically a few working days after the payment.

Yes, you must. CONNECT stores booking details and platform messages, but it is not a clinical record system. You are responsible for keeping your own consultation records in line with your regulator’s standards, and for retaining them for the periods your professional body requires.

During onboarding you give us your registration body and number, and if you’re AfN-registered, your grade (RNutr or ANutr). Our team checks these against the HCPC, CORU or AfN public register, confirming your name and current registration status. Most checks complete within a couple of working days, and you’ll get an email either way. Your profile only appears in the directory once you are verified and you choose to publish it.