Share your views on our policy for publishing osteopaths’ fitness to practise information
1 February 2023
The policy explains when, and for how long, details of decisions by our fitness to practise committees should be made available to the public.
We publish information about osteopaths’ fitness to practise to help patients make informed choices about their treatment, to help maintain public confidence in the profession and to highlight the standards and behaviour expected of osteopaths.
Our Fitness to Practise Publication Policy explains the circumstances under which we publish fitness to practise information. The policy also details how long this information is made available to the public, helping us to protect the public while also protecting the rights of those involved in our fitness to practise proceedings.
We are seeking views on our proposed changes to the policy, including:
- no longer publishing the full details but publishing only a summary of decisions to impose interim suspension orders (the temporary suspension of an osteopath’s registration) by our Professional Conduct Committee and Investigating Committee before the final hearing takes place
- being clearer in the policy that we will continue to publish fitness to practise decisions and sanctions relating to osteopaths who have been granted voluntary removal from the Register, for the length of time stated in the policy
- continuing to make the current Fitness to Practise Annual Report and the previous five annual reports available on our website, but removing all other previously published annual reports from the website and making these available on request
We welcome views from all, especially osteopaths, patients, members of the public with an interest in fitness to practise, other health and social care regulators and key organisations involved in our concerns process.
The deadline for responses to this consultation is Tuesday 25 April 2023.
