A Referral Guide for Medical Practitioners

What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy is a system of manual preventative medicine that focuses primarily on the musculo-skeletal system.

Using many of the diagnostic procedures used in conventional medical assessment and diagnosis, osteopaths seek to restore the optimal functioning of the body and aid its ability to heal without the use of drugs or surgery.

Treatment includes a variety of stretching, mobilising and manipulative techniques, reinforced by guidance on diet and exercise.

A wide range of musculo-skeletal conditions, including back and neck pain, headaches and sports and work-related injuries respond especially well to osteopathic treatment.

Can I refer my patients to an Osteopath?

Osteopaths are statutorily regulated health professionals and form an integral part of primary care teams. GPs can safely refer patients to an osteopath ­ guidelines are published by the General Medical Council and British Medical Association^{1 2}.

What conditions are appropriate for referral?

Commonly treated conditions also include glue ear, whiplash, pregnancy care, sinusitis, frozen shoulder, asthma and arthritic pain.

Why osteopathy?

Against a backdrop of increasing pressures on GP workloads made worse by limited resources, osteopathy offers a cost-effective source of healthcare:

• Problems such as back pain cost the NHS and industry billions of pounds a year.
• Osteopaths help to keep patients mobile and already succeed in keeping an estimated 25,000 patients a day out of doctors' surgeries and off hospital waiting lists³.
• Speedy access to osteopathic care for acute patients often averts the possibility of conditions becoming chronic.
• Osteopathy can help to reduce pain and minimise dependency on drugs.
• Osteopathy can obviate the need for further medical investigation or surgical intervention.
  
  

How qualified are Osteopaths?

Today access to the General Osteopathic Council Register is only with a Recognised Qualification from one of the accredited schools in the UK. All schools are validated by universities and offer four to five-year full-time courses.

Osteopaths are highly skilled practitioners with sound clinical experience, committed to lifelong learning through the implementation of Continuing Professional Development from 2004.

Is Osteopathy effective?

Many randomly-controlled trials suggest osteopathy is effective for low back pain. The Clinical Standards Advisory Group (CSAG) report on Back Pain (1994) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Guidelines for the Management of Acute Low Back Pain (1999) support the provision of osteopathic treatment for these conditions. The UK Back Pain Exercise and Manipulation (UK BEAM) trial on back pain funded by the Medical Research Council and Department of Health is also favourable towards manipulation, including osteopathy.

Whilst safe and effective, manipulation is not the sole skill provided by osteopaths and their value is not restricted to treating back pain. That is why the National Council for Osteopathic Research (NCOR) has also been set up to establish a comprehensive research strategy to demonstrate osteopathy's place and value in an integrated healthcare structure.

The General Osteopathic Council (GOsC)

It is a criminal offence in the UK, liable to prosecution, to describe oneself as an osteopath unless registered with the General Osteopathic Council.

The GOsC regulates, promotes and develops the profession of osteopathy, maintaining a Statutory Register of those entitled to practise osteopathy.

Only practitioners meeting the highest standards of safety and competency are eligible for registration. Proof of good health, good character and professional indemnity insurance is also a requirement.

Clinical Imaging Referral Guidelines for non-medical healthcare practitioners

Guidance to support imaging staff in accepting requests for clinical imaging from non-medical professionals, such as osteopaths, chiropractors, physiotherapists and nurses, has been developed by the Royal College of Nursing (in association with the General Osteopathic Council, General Chiropractic Council, National Health Service Alliance, Royal College of Radiologists and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists).

The guidelines, Clinical imaging requests from non-medically qualified professionals, aim to prevent the problem of osteopaths and other non-medically qualified professionals having x-ray (and other clinical diagnostics) requests refused by some radiography departments who traditionally have been reluctant to accept referrals from anyone other than doctors.

Click here to download a copy of the current guidelines or for a printed copy, contact the Communications Department on 020 7357 6655 extension 242.

Any questions?

For further information on how osteopathy can help you and your patients, along with details of osteopaths in your area, contact the GOsC.

¹ Good Medical Practice: General Medical Council, 2001
² Referrals to complementary therapists. Guidance for GPs: General Practitioners' Committee,
  British Medical Association, 1999
³ Snapshot survey 2001, GOsC