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GOsC · Registered osteopaths

GOsC remediation courses for osteopaths facing a concern

If a concern has been raised with the General Osteopathic Council, this page explains how the GOsC handles it, from the screener to the Professional Conduct Committee, and what its own guidance says about insight, remorse and remediation. It then helps you build evidence against the Osteopathic Practice Standards and choose courses that fit the allegation.

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Remediation in GOsC cases

The GOsC framework differs from most health regulators. Under the Osteopaths Act 1993, the Professional Conduct Committee does not apply a separate current impairment test. It decides the facts, then whether they amount to unacceptable professional conduct, professional incompetence or a materially relevant conviction, and then what sanction is needed. Insight and remediation therefore carry most weight at two points: when the Investigating Committee decides whether there is a case to answer, and when the PCC decides sanction.

The GOsC’s Hearings and Sanctions Guidance (May 2025) asks whether there is real evidence that the osteopath has been able to look back at their conduct with a self-critical eye, has acknowledged fault, expressed contrition or apologised. It lists remedial action, insight, apology and relevant CPD and courses completed as mitigating factors. Remediation for a GOsC case means producing that real evidence.

Before you start

We are an independent CPD provider, not part of the GOsC. No regulator approves remediation courses, and no course can guarantee an outcome. Take advice from your defence organisation, union or solicitor, and agree with them which learning is relevant to your case.

Which course fits your GOsC concern

Pick courses that match both the allegation and the theme of the Osteopathic Practice Standards it falls under: communication and patient partnership, knowledge, skills and performance, safety and quality in practice, or professionalism.

Consent and communication

Many osteopathy complaints start with a patient who did not understand or agree to a technique, or felt unheard. The 2019 standards were updated to reflect the Montgomery judgment on consent. Remediation should show how you now explain treatment options, risks and alternatives, check understanding and record consent clearly in the notes.

Sexual misconduct and professional boundaries

The GOsC guidance treats sexual misconduct, including non-consensual examination and boundary breaches with vulnerable patients, as very serious, with removal likely to be considered appropriate. The standards cover emotional and professional as well as sexual boundaries. For lower-level concerns, learning on boundaries, chaperoning, draping, consent and intimate examination is central.

Dishonesty and probity

The GOsC says dishonesty, even outside clinical practice, can be particularly serious because it undermines public trust in the profession, and that persistent or concealed dishonesty points to a sanction at the higher end. Rule 8 is not available for dishonesty. Remediation should show deep understanding of why honesty matters, not only process changes.

Professional incompetence and record keeping

The guidance says one isolated error is unlikely to amount to professional incompetence, which looks at all the particulars found proved together, and mentions poor record keeping. Record-keeping complaints alone usually do not meet the threshold unless incompetence is of a high degree. Show improved assessment, clinical reasoning, referral decisions and notes.

Fees, advertising and financial conduct

Under the threshold criteria, fee disputes are usually not taken forward unless they involve dishonesty. Where they do, or where claims about treatment benefits or charges are misleading, the concern becomes one of integrity. Remediation should cover transparent fees, honest advertising and how your practice now handles billing, refunds and treatment plans.

Confidentiality

The threshold criteria exclude several types of dispute but keep breaches of confidentiality in scope. Concerns can arise from sharing patient details, discussing cases outside the clinic or poor data handling. Remediation should show you understand the duty of confidentiality and the systems you now use to protect patient information.

Candour and complaint handling

The 2019 standards introduced the joint statement on the professional duty of candour. A defensive or dismissive response to a patient complaint can escalate a minor matter into a formal concern. Learning on candour and complaint handling helps show you now respond openly, apologise where appropriate and learn from what patients tell you.

How the GOsC concerns process works

Each GOsC stage has its own decision maker and its own test. Knowing which stage you are at tells you what your evidence needs to do.

  1. 1

    Screener

    A screener, who is a registered osteopath and a member of the Investigating Committee, decides whether the GOsC has power to deal with the concern under section 20 of the Osteopaths Act 1993 if it proved well founded. The screener can refer it to the Investigating Committee, close it under the Initial Closure Procedure where there is insufficient relevant, credible and detailed supporting material, or close it with written reasons. Threshold criteria help decide whether a conduct allegation is serious enough to proceed.

  2. 2

    Investigation and your response

    If the concern is referred, the GOsC gathers evidence and sends it to you. You can respond in writing, and the Investigating Committee must consider any evidence you provide. Evidence that arrives the day before or on the morning of the meeting may be excluded at the committee’s discretion, so keep to the deadlines in your letters. Your response is the main chance to put reflection, training and testimonials before the committee.

  3. 3

    Investigating Committee

    The Investigating Committee meets in private, without you or the complainant attending. It asks whether there is a real prospect of the alleged facts being proved, and if so, whether there is a real prospect they would amount to a statutory ground. It can find no case to answer, find no case to answer and issue advice, adjourn for further investigation, or refer the case to the Professional Conduct Committee or Health Committee.

  4. 4

    Interim suspension orders

    The Investigating Committee, Professional Conduct Committee and Health Committee can each impose an interim suspension order where it is necessary to protect members of the public. The committee does not decide whether allegations are proved. It assesses whether there is a real continuing risk. The GOsC has also published a practice note on undertakings at interim suspension order hearings, so ask your adviser whether offering undertakings is an option in your case.

  5. 5

    Rule 8 consensual disposal

    After a case is referred to the PCC, some cases can be concluded without a hearing under Rule 8. You must admit the facts, admit they amount to the allegation, waive your right to a hearing and accept an admonishment. A PCC Chair must agree the case is suitable, and the complainant can comment. Rule 8 is not available for cases involving violence, sexual or physical abuse, dishonesty, deception or fraud, or a conviction leading to imprisonment.

  6. 6

    Professional Conduct Committee hearing

    A PCC panel of at least three, including a lay member and an osteopath, works in three stages: findings of fact on the balance of probabilities, a finding on the allegation, and a finding on sanction. Insight, apology, remedial action and relevant CPD are weighed at the sanction stage. The available sanctions are admonishment, a conditions of practice order, a suspension order and removal from the Register. Sanctions take effect 28 days after notification unless appealed.

  7. 7

    Review and restoration

    Conditions of practice orders and suspension orders can each last up to three years. Where the PCC suspends, it must direct a review hearing before the period ends and state what information it will need. That statement is your guide to what to produce. Removal is permanent unless you later apply for restoration, and the GOsC publishes separate guidance on the arrangements and procedure for restoration hearings.

What the GOsC looks for in insight and remediation

These points come directly from the GOsC’s Hearings and Sanctions Guidance and its Investigating Committee Decision-Making Guidance (April 2025).

A self-critical look back

The PCC is asked to focus on whether there is real evidence that you have looked back at your conduct with a self-critical eye. That means more than saying you regret what happened. Explain, in your own words, what you did, why it fell short of the Osteopathic Practice Standards, what effect it had on the patient, and what you now understand that you did not before. Generic statements about lessons learned rarely meet that test.

Acknowledging fault, contrition and apology

The guidance names acknowledging fault, expressing contrition and apologising as signs of insight, and treats a sincere explanation and apology before and during a hearing as mitigating. It also states that an apology made by a registrant does not in itself amount to an admission of guilt. That matters if you dispute some allegations, though you should still take advice before apologising in writing about anything you contest, and keep any apology specific to the patient’s experience.

Remedial action and conduct since

Mitigating factors include evidence of good conduct after the incident, particularly any remedial action. At the investigation stage, the Investigating Committee may consider whether you have remediated the conduct alleged, and whether there is apparent insight, when deciding whether to close a case with or without advice. Remediation evidence can therefore help well before any hearing is listed. Show what you changed in your clinic, when you changed it, and how you know the change is working.

Relevant CPD and courses

The Hearings and Sanctions Guidance lists relevant CPD and courses completed by the osteopath as a mitigating factor. The word relevant is important. Courses should map onto the specific allegation and the specific standards involved, and you should explain what each one changed in your practice. Keep certificates and reflective accounts together with your wider CPD record, so the committee can see your learning as a planned response rather than a last-minute addition.

Testimonials

Testimonials and references can help. The GOsC guidance says the weight given to them is a matter for the PCC, and that their absence should not count against you. The most useful testimonials come from people who know about the concern, who have seen your practice since, and who can describe specific changes rather than general good character. Ask referees to confirm in writing that they have read the allegations before they comment on your practice.

Recommended GOsC remediation courses

All 18

Each course is self-paced and online. You get scenario-based questions with an 80% pass mark, a structured reflective account and a CPD certificate showing your name, the course title and the CPD hours.

Building your GOsC evidence bundle

Investigating Committee members read your bundle without meeting you, so it must be clear, dated and organised around the allegations.

What to put in your bundle

  • A reflective statement addressing each allegation and the relevant Osteopathic Practice Standards.
  • Certificates for targeted courses completed after the concern arose, each with its reflective account.
  • Your wider CPD record, highlighting learning relevant to the concern.
  • Notes of peer discussion or mentoring about the concern with another osteopath.
  • Updated consent forms, case history templates or patient information leaflets you now use.
  • An audit of a sample of your recent records, if note-taking or consent recording was criticised.
  • Testimonials from colleagues or practice principals who know about the concern.
  • Evidence of any apology given, where appropriate and on advice.

Writing your reflection

  1. Show the self-critical look back the GOsC guidance describes: what you did, why it fell short, and what you now understand.
  2. Refer to specific Osteopathic Practice Standards rather than general principles.
  3. Describe the impact on the patient and on public confidence in osteopathy, not only on you.
  4. Avoid blaming the patient or the setting, and have your adviser review the statement before it is sent.

When to start remediation in a GOsC case

Start once you have taken initial advice, ideally before your written response to the Investigating Committee. The committee must consider evidence you provide on time, and its guidance allows it to take remediation and insight into account when deciding whether to close a case. Late material may not be considered.

If the case is referred to the PCC, continue. Sanction is decided at the end of the hearing, and evidence of good conduct and remedial action since the incident is a mitigating factor. If you are suspended, the review hearing will ask for the information the PCC specified, so plan your learning around that list.

Unacceptable professional conduct and the threshold criteria

Unacceptable professional conduct means conduct which falls short of the standard required of a registered osteopath. The GOsC’s guidance applies the test from Spencer v General Osteopathic Council: the conduct must carry an implication of moral blameworthiness and a degree of opprobrium in the eyes of an ordinary intelligent citizen. The screener asks whether an allegation is worthy of the moral opprobrium and publicity that flow from such a finding.

The threshold criteria list matters usually not taken forward, such as record-keeping complaints alone, fee and employment disputes, and matters from personal life, unless they involve dishonesty, violence, breaches of confidentiality or bringing the profession into disrepute. Knowing where your concern sits helps you and your adviser judge how much and what kind of remediation is proportionate.

Common mistakes osteopaths make

  • Assuming there is a current impairment stage where remediation will be weighed. At the PCC it is weighed mainly at sanction.
  • Sending reflection or certificates the day before the Investigating Committee meets, when they may be excluded.
  • Treating Rule 8 as a shortcut without understanding that it requires full admissions and results in a published admonishment.
  • Choosing courses unrelated to the allegation, which the guidance’s focus on relevant CPD will not reward.
  • Engaging with the GOsC without advice from your professional association, insurer or a solicitor.

Core course

Fitness to Practise for Healthcare Professionals

Our most complete remediation course: 4 CPD hours and 40 scenario questions on impairment, insight, remediation and reflection, with a certificate when you pass.

£ 150 Add to cart See the full curriculum

GOsC remediation: common questions

Are these courses approved by the GOsC?

No. The GOsC does not approve, accredit or endorse remediation courses. Its guidance lists relevant CPD and courses as a possible mitigating factor, but the Investigating Committee or Professional Conduct Committee decides what weight any evidence deserves. Our courses come with a CPD certificate and are built to help you show learning, insight and reflection in a form a committee can read.

Will a course guarantee a better outcome?

No. Nothing guarantees an outcome. The PCC considers the facts, the seriousness of the conduct, aggravating and mitigating factors and the public interest. For some concerns, such as sexual misconduct with vulnerable patients or persistent dishonesty, the guidance points towards the most serious sanctions whatever remediation is shown. Courses are one part of a wider response that should include professional advice.

What is unacceptable professional conduct for an osteopath?

It is conduct which falls short of the standard required of a registered osteopath. The GOsC applies a test from case law: the conduct must be serious enough to carry an implication of moral blameworthiness and opprobrium. Minor lapses, isolated record-keeping issues or fee disputes usually do not meet that threshold unless dishonesty or another aggravating feature is involved.

What can the Investigating Committee decide?

It can find no case to answer, find no case to answer and issue advice, adjourn for further investigation, or refer the case to the Professional Conduct Committee or Health Committee. It can also impose an interim suspension order where necessary to protect the public. It meets in private and decides on the papers, so your written response matters.

What is a Rule 8 admonishment?

Rule 8 lets some cases referred to the PCC end without a hearing. You admit the facts and that they amount to the allegation, waive a hearing and accept an admonishment, which is published on the GOsC website. A PCC Chair must agree, and it cannot be used for dishonesty, violence, sexual or physical abuse, or convictions with imprisonment.

How long can a GOsC suspension or conditions order last?

Under the Osteopaths Act 1993, a conditions of practice order or a suspension order cannot exceed three years. Where the PCC suspends an osteopath, it must arrange a review hearing before the period ends and say what information it will need. Use that list to plan remediation evidence for the review.

What do the courses include?

Each course is self-paced online and available straight after purchase. Most carry 2 CPD hours and 15 multiple choice questions; the Fitness to Practise course carries 4 CPD hours and 40 questions. The pass mark is 80%. You complete a structured reflective account and receive a CPD certificate PDF showing your name, the course title and CPD hours.

Official sources

This page was checked against General Osteopathic Council guidance in October 2026. Processes and guidance change, so always confirm the current position with the regulator and your adviser. This page is general information, not legal advice.

GOsC CPD requirements explained

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