o zone login
  1. You are at:
  2. Home
  3. Resources
  4. News
  5. General Osteopathic Council suspends Tari MacDonald from its Register of osteopaths

General Osteopathic Council suspends Tari MacDonald from its Register of osteopaths

13 December 2019

The GOsC’s Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) found Mr Tari MacDonald, of East Grinstead, West Sussex, guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and decided that the appropriate sanction would be to suspend him from the Register of osteopaths for a period of 18 months.

The GOsC’s Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) found Mr Tari MacDonald, of East Grinstead, West Sussex, guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and decided that the appropriate sanction would be to suspend him from the Register of osteopaths for a period of 18 months.

The PCC found that Mr MacDonald had transgressed professional and sexual boundaries by engaging in sexual activity with a patient on two occasions in November and December 2017. The PCC also found that Mr MacDonald had failed to keep adequate patient records for the patient over a period of time between August 2016 and December 2017.

The PCC determined that Mr MacDonald’s conduct was a gross abuse of his professional position, involving sexual misconduct in a clinical context, which was highly likely to damage the reputation of osteopaths and public confidence in the profession generally.

In deciding the appropriate sanction, the PCC, chaired by Mrs Nora Nanayakkara, concluded that Mr MacDonald’s conduct was a serious departure from professional standards. It considered that no sanction lower than suspension was sufficient to maintain confidence in the profession, and therefore determined that Mr MacDonald should be suspended from the statutory Register of osteopaths for a period of 18 months.

Mr MacDonald’s suspension came into effect on 28 September 2019. He was informed on 30 August 2019 of his right to appeal the decision within 28 days but he did not appeal the decision. The suspension will be reviewed by the PCC before it expires.

Read the full hearing decision.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. The General Osteopathic Council is the regulator of osteopaths in the UK.

2. The General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) has a statutory duty to regulate the practice of osteopathy in the UK. Osteopaths must be registered with the GOsC to practise in the UK.

3. The GOsC works with the public and the profession to promote patient safety by:

  • registering qualified professionals
  • setting, maintaining and developing standards of osteopathic practice and conduct
  • assuring the quality of osteopathic education
  • ensuring continuing professional development
  • helping patients with concerns or complaints about an osteopath


4. The General Osteopathic Council’s Professional Conduct Committee is an independent statutory committee. It hears cases concerning serious unacceptable conduct, incompetence or criminal convictions. If the Committee finds any such case proved, it imposes an appropriate sanction on the osteopath.

5. The General Osteopathic Council has published guidance setting out the ‘threshold criteria’ for unacceptable professional conduct. This guidance is used to assist in determining if a complaint can be investigated.

6. The statutory Register of osteopaths provides a geographical index of all practising osteopaths and is available to the general public at osteopathy.org.uk/register-search

For further information contact:
General Osteopathic Council Press Office
020 7357 6655 x245
pressoffice@osteopathy.org.uk