COVID-19: GOsC Council meets virtually

The substantive item on the agenda was the consideration of the impact of, and the GOsC response to, the COVID-19 pandemic.

Within the comprehensive discussion which took place, Council members considered:

• the impact on osteopaths and the osteopathic profession
• the guidance which has been published to support osteopaths to exercise their clinical judgement during the pandemic
• the financial impact on the GOsC and its cashflow and how this is being managed and mitigated
• the nature of questions from the profession, the themes arising and how GOsC has responded to them

Following the meeting, Bill said: ‘The global pandemic has presented challenges for every organisation and it was important for Council members to assess the impact on the GOsC and notably, on our overarching objective to protect the public and patients’.

The meeting was attended by new Council members and osteopaths Daniel Bailey and Caroline Guy, and lay member Professor Deborah Bowman, who all joined Council on 1 April 2020.

Bill said: ‘We warmly welcome Daniel, Caroline and Deborah to the Council and I’m confident we will benefit hugely from their wide-ranging experience and expertise’.

The meeting was also observed by Maurice Cheng, Chief Executive of the professional membership body, the Institute of Osteopathy, together with its President Susan Farwell, as well as a representative of the Professional Standards Authority.

The GOsC Council will next meet in July 2020.

• Read the public papers from the meeting
• Our latest guidance on the COVID-19 pandemic