What we do (and what we don’t do)
We protect the health, safety and wellbeing of the public, and the reputation of the osteopathic profession. We are responsible for making sure the public continues to have confidence in the profession, and we are responsible for the professional standards that osteopaths and students must follow in order to practise safely.
Legally, we cannot promote osteopathy to the public or other healthcare professionals. We also cannot lobby the government on behalf of the osteopathic profession
What we do
- Keep a Register of all those allowed to practise osteopathy in the UK.
- Work with the public, patients and osteopathic profession to decide on, maintain and develop high quality standards of osteopathic practice and conduct.
- Help patients with any concerns they raise about an osteopath and if necessary, remove from the Register any osteopaths who do not meet the professional standards and who are therefore unfit to practise.
- Check the quality of osteopathic education and decide on the standards of practice that osteopathic students must demonstrate before they graduate.
- Protect the osteopathic title from misuse by making sure that only those with the correct qualifications and a valid up to date registration are able to call themselves an osteopath.
- Make sure that osteopaths carry out activities to support their continuing professional development (CPD).
Areas of our work and how we regulate the osteopathy profession
You can be confident that only graduates who have met the standards we have set throughout their training are allowed to join the Register and enter the profession of osteopathy.
This is because we set and maintain standards for osteopathic education and training. We also work together with osteopathic education providers to ensure they deliver high quality education and training, and safe, good quality osteopathic care for patients.
Read more about how we set the standards for education and training
Concerns about osteopaths remain low, with less than a 2% chance of a concern being raised from a patient. However, on the rare occasion when things go wrong for patients or they have concerns about an osteopath’s conduct, they can contact the GOsC knowing that it is our role to investigate their concerns and make sure the osteopath is fit to practise. This means we keep patients safe by making sure only osteopaths who provide safe, high-quality care are legally allowed to practise in the UK.
We can take action when someone who is not on the GOsC Register uses the title ‘osteopath’ because it is protected by law. We can, and do, prosecute individuals who practise as osteopaths when they are not on the GOsC Register.
Find out more about our work to protect the osteopathic title
By following our standards of conduct and ethics, the Osteopathic Practice Standards, osteopaths are able to demonstrate to the public that they meet the highest professional and standards, and are therefore competent, qualified, and can practice safely.
Continuing professional development (CPD) is a requirement for those who want to be on our Register of osteopaths. By keeping their skills and knowledge up to date, osteopaths demonstrate that they are able to practise safely and effectively in their profession. Carrying out CPD activities which support and expand their areas of expertise helps osteopaths to provide continuous high quality patient care, which keeps patients safe.