Find your Registration Authority
To access patient data on clinical systems you need the right role, which is granted or removed by the Registration Authority for your organisation.
You do not need to contact your Registration Authority to unlock your smartcard - you can use self-service smartcard unlock.
If you cannot log in to Care Identity Management
We recommend you:
- first ask a colleague - ideally the person who gave you your first smartcard or other authenticator
- contact your IT helpdesk
- check if the primary care service provider contact details page contains the details you need
Ask a colleague or your line manager
The best person to ask is whoever gave you initial access to patient data, most likely by providing your first smartcard or other authenticator. If that's not possible, any other colleague with their own access may know who to contact.
You can also ask a colleague to search by organisation in Care Identity Management - you cannot do this yourself if your smartcard is locked.
Contact your IT helpdesk
If you cannot get help locally, you can contact your local IT helpdesk to find your Registration Authority.
If the Registration Authority function is provided by your IT team they should be able to help immediately. If not, when you contact them it can help to make it clear you're looking for Registration Authority or smartcard team contact details - if you only tell them you're trying to unlock your smartcard, they may tell you they're not able to unlock smartcards, or direct you to self-service smartcard unlock.
Contact your Commissioning Support Unit (primary care only)
If you work in primary care, such as in a pharmacy, GP surgery, dentist, optician or social care, your Registration Authority is often provided by a Commissioning Support Unit. These are listed by area on the primary care service provider contact details page.
Last edited: 4 April 2025 11:19 am