GOsC welcomes positive performance review report for 2013/14

The General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) has welcomed the positive endorsement of its work by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) – the body responsible for monitoring the performance of UK healthcare professional regulators.

The annual Performance Review Report 2013/14, published today, concludes that the GOsC once again maintains its effectiveness as a regulator. Key achievements noted by the PSA over the last year include:

• cooperation and collaboration with the British Osteopathic Association, Osteopathic Alliance, National Council for Osteopathic Research and the Council of Osteopathic Educational Institutions on a shared agenda for the development of the osteopathic profession
• work to encourage membership of regional societies and to incorporate these societies into our planning for continuing fitness to practise
• commissioning of research into the effectiveness of regulation
• plans to review the GOsC’s education quality assurance process
• a promotional campaign to raise awareness of osteopaths as regulated
  professionals
• development of a new quality improvement framework for our fitness to practise process.

Tim Walker, the GOsC’s Chief Executive, said:

“We welcome the PSA’s report and are pleased they have recognised the important work we have done over the last year to seek to ensure the highest standard of osteopathic practice and patient care for the benefit of patients.”

In common with all the health professions’ regulators, the performance of the GOsC is reviewed annually by the PSA to check it is effectively protecting the public and maintaining confidence in the osteopathic profession. All regulators’ performance is measured against a set of standards that cover different areas of work including guidance and standards, education and training, registration and complaints handling.

The full performance review report is available on the PSA’s website at: http://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/library/document-detail?id=d716599e-2ce2-6f4b-9ceb-ff0000b2236b. The GOsC’s review can be found in section 14 on pages 103-111.

ENDS

For further information, contact:
The GOsC Press Office
Tel: 020 7357 6655 x245
Email: pressoffice@osteopathy.org.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS
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 in order to practice in the UK. We work 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.

The 2014 statutory Register of osteopaths provides a geographical index of all practising osteopaths, and is available to the general public and to healthcare providers online at: www.osteopathy.org.uk

The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care is the body charged by Parliament with overseeing the work of the nine healthcare regulators. It carries out an annual performance review of all the regulators’ work and publishes this review on its website (www.professionalstandards.org.uk).

The nine health and social care care regulators are:

• General Chiropractic Council
• General Dental Council
• General Medical Council
• General Optical Council
• General Osteopathic Council
• General Pharmaceutical Council
• Health and Care Professions Council
• Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland