Changing your registration status
You can change your registration status at any time. You may be changing your registration status due to a career break, ill health, maternity/paternity leave, wanting to practise overseas, or because you want to return to the register. All the information you need is in this section.
Non-practising
Osteopaths who do not practise and are not in clinical contact with patients, for a period of three consecutive months within their registration year are entitled to a reduction in their fees.
To change your registration status to non-practising you must complete a ‘Non-Practising Form’ together with supporting evidence.
As you are still registered when you are non-practising, your registration requirements remain the same:
- You must complete your annual renewal of registration and pay a registration fee.
- You must continue to complete CPD.
- A practice address must still be listed on the Register alongside your name.
Once you have received written confirmation from the GOsC that your registration status has been updated to that of non-practising, you should inform your insurance provider immediately. If you cancel your professional indemnity insurance, you must have ‘run-off’ cover in place.
Run-off cover will protect both you and your patients should a claim be made against you retrospectively. Find out more about insurance requirements.
If you are non-practising and wish to return to work in the UK, you must provide the following information at least five working days before your intended start date in order to change your registration status back to that of fully practising in the UK:
- The date you are intending to return to practice in the UK
- A copy of your UK professional indemnity insurance
- Updated UK practice details
- Updated UK correspondence details
You must send this information to registration@osteopathy.org.uk
If you have been non-practising for two years or more, you will need to complete our Return to Practice process (outlined below) as well as supplying the above documentation.
This is a supportive process to help you make the transition back into practice and help to ensure patient safety by guiding you on best practice.
Practising overseas
Osteopaths who practice outside of the UK for a period of three consecutive months within their registration year are entitled to a reduction in their fees.
To change your registration status to practising overseas you must complete and submit a Practising Overseas Form together with supporting evidence.
As you are still registered when you are practicing overseas, your registration requirements remain the same:
- You must complete your annual renewal of registration and pay a registration fee.
- You must continue to complete CPD.
- A practice address must still be listed on the Register alongside your name.
If you are practising overseas and wish to return to work in the UK, you must provide the following information at least five working days before your intended start date in order to change your registration status back to that of fully practising in the UK:
- The date you are intending to return to practice in the UK
- A copy of your UK professional indemnity insurance
- Updated UK practice details
- Updated UK correspondence details
You must send this information to registration@osteopathy.org.uk.
If you choose to live and work outside the UK, you do not need to be registered with the GOsC.
Before starting to work overseas, you should check whether there are any registration or insurance requirements in the country where you intend to practise.
You can find information on Leaving the Register below.
Restoration
If you have been off the Register for any reason and want to return to practice as an osteopath, you may apply for restoration to the Register.
Please note that you cannot start to practice until you have received confirmation that you are registered with the GOsC and you have appropriate professional indemnity insurance in place.
The requirements
You will need to provide the following documentation:
- Restoration application form and payment of the appropriate fee
- Health reference
- Character reference
- Enhanced check for Regulated Activity
- Summary of CPD activities and backing evidence
Depending on your personal circumstances, you may also be required to supply additional documentation which could include:
- Overseas police checks if you have lived overseas since leaving the Register
- Letter of Good Standing if you have practised as an osteopath in an overseas country where osteopathy is regulated
Two years or more off the Register
If you have been off the Register for two years or more, you will need to complete our Return to Practice process as well as supplying the above documentation.
This is a supportive process to help you make the transition back into practice and help to ensure patient safety by guiding you on best practice.
Contact details
If you have any questions about the above requirements or would like to request an application pack, please email registration@osteopathy.org.uk
Returning to Practice
If you have been non-practising or off the Register for two years or more, you will need to complete our Return to Practice process.
This will help support you with your transition back into UK practice, helping to ensure patient safety by guiding you on best practice through supportive conversation, providing professional reassurance, and signposting to appropriate resources.
This process includes:
- Submission of a short self reflection form
- A follow up conversation with a member of the GOsC Registration Team
- A processing time of 2 weeks once the self-reflective form has been submitted
Leaving the register
Osteopaths may choose to leave the Register for a number of reasons, for example they may go on parental leave or take on other caring responsibilities, or due to retirement.
If you would like to leave the Register for any reason, please complete the Leaving the Register online form.
If you are subject to a fitness to practise investigation at the time you apply to leave the Register, the Registrar will consider several factors before deciding whether to agree to your removal or not. These factors are explained in our Voluntary Removal Policy.
Restoration
If you decide to return to practise as an osteopath in the future, you may apply for restoration to the Register. The Registration team can advise you on the requirements of the restoration process at: registration@osteopathy.org.uk.
You will be expected to have maintained your continuing professional development (CPD) during your time off the Register and we will ask you for evidence of this when you apply for restoration.
If you have been off the Register for two years or longer, you will also be asked to complete our Return to Practice process. This will help support you with your transition back into practice, helping to ensure patient safety by guiding you on best practice at a time in your career when you may feel less confident.
Osteopaths who have been out of practice for a substantial period will always be encouraged to return to work in a group practice initially, where other osteopaths are available to offer support if required.
Your equality and diversity information
The GOsC collects information about the protected characteristics of osteopaths to better understand the diversity of the profession.
We ask osteopaths to complete an online diversity monitoring form with questions about their protected characteristics, such as age, ethnicity and disability.
It’s our legal duty:
Collecting this information is something that the GOsC is obliged by law to do under the Public Sector Equality Duty, in an effort to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share and do not share specific characteristics. All other healthcare regulators also collect this information from their registrants for the same reason. The Health and Care Professions Council publishes data on the diversity of their professions registered by the Health and Care Professions Council and the General Medical Council does the same for doctors.
We want to be inclusive:
Knowing the diversity of osteopaths will give us a better understanding of their needs and how our regulatory services, including our continuing professional development scheme, registration or fitness to practise processes can meet those needs and be inclusive for everyone.
Knowing the diversity of the profession will also help us and our partners to demonstrate that osteopathy is welcoming and inclusive for all patients and students, or to think about how we might encourage greater diversity, because we know that more diverse professions can better meet the needs of their diverse patients.
We want to be fair:
When we understand the diversity of osteopaths, we can identify and address how different groups in the profession are impacted by our policies, processes, and decisions. Without this information, it is difficult for us to confidently say that specific groups of osteopaths are being treated fairly.
The diversity information we collect will be anonymised and used to inform our new annual Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Report to show an overall picture of diversity across the profession. This report will be made available on our website. We will also use this information to comply with our legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
We want to be clear that we won’t share or use your personal diversity information for any other reason except the purposes we have mentioned above.
Access to this information will be restricted to staff members involved in the processing and monitoring of this data. It will be used to provide statistical information only, and personal information will not be visible to any of our colleagues involved in our concerns process or fitness to practise proceedings, or external partners. We collect diversity equality data as part of our concerns process separately and for different purposes.
Please also note that, because this information is purely for the purposes of monitoring equality and diversity across the profession, any information you provide to us about disability or a health condition using this form is considered separate to your responsibility to notify the GOsC about a health condition or change in health that affects your ability to practise safely.