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GCC · Registered chiropractors

GCC remediation courses for chiropractors under investigation

If a complaint has been made to the General Chiropractic Council, this page explains each stage of the GCC process, how the Investigating Committee and Professional Conduct Committee have treated insight and reflection in recent cases, and what the new Code of Professional Practice expects. It then helps you choose courses that match the concern and build evidence a committee can use.

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Remediation in GCC cases

When a concern is raised about a chiropractor’s skills or behaviour, the GCC process can lead to anything from advice to restrictions on practice or removal. Remediation is how you show the learning has already happened: you understand what went wrong, you have addressed it, and the risk to patients is reduced.

Insight is often what separates outcomes. In a case the GCC published in February 2025, the Professional Conduct Committee removed a chiropractor after noting a persistent lack of insight and a real concern that he would behave in the same way again. In another published case, a conditions of practice order required a reflective submission and assessment by a GCC-appointed assessor. Your remediation should give the committee clear evidence on the very question they are asking: is this likely to happen again?

Before you start

We are an independent CPD provider, not part of the GCC. 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 GCC concern

Match your courses to the allegation and to the principle of the Code of Professional Practice that applies.

Record keeping and referrals

The GCC calls clinical record keeping a fundamental attribute of what it means to be a professional. A 2024 case found unacceptable professional conduct for sustained record-keeping and correspondence failures, leading to a 12-month conditions of practice order. Remediation should include an audit of your notes and referral letters, and a reflective account of what you changed.

Care plans, reassessment and patient safety

Continuing a fixed treatment plan after new or worsening symptoms has led to findings against chiropractors. The new Code expects regular formal reassessment using recognised outcome measures. Show how you now review progress, recognise red flags, refer on promptly and adjust or stop care, with anonymised examples from your records.

Advertising and misleading claims

The GCC has found unacceptable professional conduct where materials claimed chiropractic care treated conditions without robust scientific evidence. Principle C requires honesty and integrity. Remediation should show you have reviewed every claim on your website, social media and leaflets, and that you now explain the evidence base honestly to patients.

Professional boundaries

Principle E requires chiropractors to establish and maintain professional boundaries. Boundary concerns can include over-familiar messages, social media contact or conduct during examination and hands-on treatment. Remediation should show a clear understanding of where boundaries lie, when to offer a chaperone and how you now manage situations that carry risk.

Communication and consent

Principle F covers valid consent and Principle G covers professional and effective communication. The GCC has published a case where discourteous messages to a patient about their personal choices led to advice. Remediation should show you now listen, respect patient choices and explain treatment, risks and alternatives before you start.

Dishonesty and fabricated records

In the February 2025 removal case, the committee found entries had been fabricated to disguise shortcomings and described this as wholly incompatible with the profession of chiropractic. Dishonesty strikes at public trust. Remediation cannot undo it, but it should show a deep understanding of why honesty matters and what has changed.

Confidentiality and patient information

Principle J requires chiropractors to maintain and protect patient information. Concerns can involve, for example, sharing details without consent, insecure paper or electronic records, or discussing patients online. Remediation should show you understand your confidentiality duties, and set out the data protection steps your clinic now follows day to day.

Responding to complaints

Your observations give the Investigating Committee context it would not otherwise have. A defensive response, or continued contact with an unhappy patient, can make matters worse. Learning on complaint handling and candour helps you respond calmly and openly, and show you take patient feedback seriously, with a written process for handling future complaints.

How a complaint to the GCC is handled

The GCC process has an investigation phase, led by the Investigating Committee, and an adjudication phase before the Professional Conduct Committee or Health Committee.

  1. 1

    Concern received

    The GCC contacts the person who raised the concern, usually within seven days, to discuss next steps. It may take a formal written statement and, with consent, request health records. The GCC advises chiropractors to contact their professional association and indemnity insurer immediately when they are told about a concern. The GCC cannot give you legal advice or tell you how to respond.

  2. 2

    Your observations

    Details of the concern are shared with you and you have an opportunity to respond; the GCC’s information for registrants refers to 28 days to give observations. Take advice before you respond. A considered response helps the Investigating Committee see the context, and this is your first chance to show you understand the concern and have started to address it.

  3. 3

    Interim suspension orders

    If there appears to be an immediate risk to the public, the GCC can seek an interim suspension order while the concern is investigated. An order made by the Investigating Committee cannot last longer than two months; an order made by the PCC lasts until the end of the PCC process. An order takes effect immediately. It is not a finding that the allegations are true.

  4. 4

    Investigating Committee

    An independent committee of chiropractors and lay members reviews the evidence. It is not a fact-finding committee. It asks whether there is evidence which, taken at its highest, could lead a practice committee to find the matter proved on the balance of probabilities, and whether those facts could amount to the allegation. It can find no case to answer, give advice, adjourn for more information, or refer the case for a hearing.

  5. 5

    Professional Conduct Committee or Health Committee hearing

    Referred cases go to the PCC or, for health matters, the Health Committee. Panels have a chair, a chiropractor member and a lay member. Hearings are normally held by video and are generally public, and the allegations and hearing notice are published on the GCC website 28 days before. You can be legally represented, at your own cost. The GCC presents the case against you and cannot give you legal advice or tell you how to respond.

  6. 6

    Outcome and sanction

    If the allegation is found proved, the PCC can admonish you, impose a conditions of practice order for up to three years, suspend your registration or remove you from the register. Published conditions have included assessment by a GCC-appointed assessor and a reflective submission on personal and professional development. You have 28 days from the notice of finding to appeal, to the High Court in England and Wales or the Court of Session in Scotland.

  7. 7

    Review hearings

    Where the PCC imposes a conditions of practice order or a suspension order, it will usually arrange a hearing to review the order. The review is your opportunity to show that the conditions have been met and the learning embedded in your daily practice. Bring evidence that answers each requirement the original panel set, including any reflective work or assessment it directed.

What GCC committees look for

The GCC’s published decisions and Fitness to Practise Learnings articles show the qualities committees return to again and again.

Insight that is real and sustained

The February 2025 removal case turned in part on a persistent lack of insight. In a 2025 suspension case involving misleading subluxation claims, the committee balanced the chiropractor’s apology and commitment to standards against the risk of harm. Insight means more than accepting the outcome. It means explaining what you did, why it fell short of the Code, and what you now do differently, in a way that stays consistent from your first response to the hearing.

Decisions informed by the Code

The GCC’s guidance for registrants says you should be able to demonstrate that your decision making was informed by its standards and that you acted in the best interests of the patient. From 1 January 2026, that means the Code of Professional Practice. Reflection should name the relevant principle, for example Principle D on clinical care or Principle E on boundaries, and show with practical examples how your practice now meets it.

Learning from the specific failing

Committees tie remediation to the concern. In a 2024 record-keeping case, conditions required a reflective submission addressing personal and professional development. In a communication case, the Investigating Committee issued advice asking the registrant to reflect on communicating effectively, respecting patients’ choices and listening to them. Generic CPD rarely answers the specific question a committee asks, so target your learning at what went wrong and explain how each piece of learning changed your practice.

Apology and respect for the patient

In the communication case, the Investigating Committee noted the registrant had not offered any apology for the distress caused. The new Code asks chiropractors to put patient interests first and to communicate professionally, properly and effectively. Where it is appropriate, and after advice, a genuine apology that recognises the patient’s experience is evidence of insight. Its absence can be noticed by a committee and may count against the picture of insight you are trying to show.

Evidence-based practice and honest claims

The GCC has highlighted cases where care plans were not reassessed and where patient materials made claims without robust scientific evidence. It has also pointed to the new Code’s expectation of formal clinical reassessment at regular intervals using recognised outcome measures. Remediation in these cases should show changed clinical review habits and a careful check of your website, leaflets, social media and verbal explanations, with a dated record of what you removed or rewrote.

Recommended GCC 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 GCC remediation evidence

The Investigating Committee works from documents, so your evidence should be organised, dated and linked to the allegation and the Code.

What to put in your bundle

  • A reflective statement addressing each allegation and the relevant principles of the Code of Professional Practice.
  • Course certificates dated after the complaint, each paired with a note on which Code principle it addresses.
  • A personal development plan agreed with a mentor or senior chiropractor, with review dates.
  • Notes from supervision or mentoring sessions on the issues raised.
  • An audit of recent records, care plans and referral letters, if documentation was criticised.
  • Copies of revised website pages, leaflets or consent forms, if claims or consent were in question.
  • Letters from fellow chiropractors or clinic owners who have read the allegation and observed your recent work.
  • A summary of your annual CPD, with the entries that relate to the allegation marked up.

Writing your reflection

  1. Explain what happened briefly, then focus on what you have learned and changed.
  2. Refer to the specific principles and standards of the Code of Professional Practice.
  3. Describe the impact on the patient and on public confidence in chiropractic.
  4. Keep your account consistent across every stage, and have your adviser review it before submission.

When to start remediation in a GCC case

Begin as soon as you have spoken to your professional association or insurer. Your observations to the Investigating Committee are the first chance to show insight. In 2025, the Investigating Committee found no case to answer in 63 of the 81 cases it determined, according to the GCC’s Fitness to Practise Annual Report 2025, so the investigation stage is where most cases end.

If your case is referred, keep going. The same report gives a median of 121 weeks from complaint to PCC decision, which is time to build sustained evidence of change. Committees value learning that has been tested in practice over months.

The new GCC Code of Professional Practice

The GCC published The Code of Professional Practice on 31 December 2024, and it came into effect on 1 January 2026. It is organised under ten principles, A to J: put patient interests first; ensure safety and quality; act with honesty, integrity and professional conduct; provide a good standard of clinical care; maintain professional boundaries; obtain valid consent; communicate effectively; foster collaborative practice; maintain and work within your knowledge and skills; and protect patient information.

Concerns about events before 2026 may still refer to the previous Code, as recent GCC case summaries do. Even so, a reflective statement that shows you understand the current Code demonstrates that your learning is up to date. Ask your adviser which version applies to your allegation.

Common mistakes in GCC remediation

  • Ignoring the new Code. Reflection written today should engage with the Code of Professional Practice in effect from 1 January 2026.
  • Defending marketing claims instead of reviewing them against the evidence base.
  • Showing insight early but contradicting it later in the process.
  • Going to a PCC hearing without specialist support. The GCC presents the case against you and cannot advise you, so speak to your professional association, insurer or a solicitor early.
  • Continuing to contact the complainant directly about the complaint.

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

GCC remediation: common questions

Are these courses approved by the GCC?

No. The GCC does not approve, accredit or endorse remediation courses. The Investigating Committee and Professional Conduct Committee decide what weight to give any evidence you submit, looking at relevance, depth of reflection and changes to practice. Our courses come with a CPD certificate and a structured reflective account, designed to help you produce that evidence clearly.

Will a course guarantee a better outcome?

No. No course can guarantee any outcome. Committees weigh the facts, the seriousness of the conduct, risk to patients and public confidence, as well as insight and remediation. Some conduct, such as fabricating records, has led to removal. Courses are one part of your response, alongside advice from your professional association, insurer or solicitor.

What happens if the Investigating Committee finds no case to answer?

The allegation is closed. The committee may still give advice, designed to support future compliance with the Code. The GCC has published an example where advice asked the chiropractor to reflect on communication and respecting patient choices. Treat advice seriously and keep evidence of the reflection you do in response.

What is unacceptable professional conduct for a chiropractor?

It is conduct which falls short of the standard required of a registered chiropractor. The GCC’s guidance says the shortcoming must be serious enough to justify an implication of moral blameworthiness, and that mere negligence does not usually amount to it unless the incompetence or negligence is of a high degree.

How long does a GCC interim suspension order last?

According to the GCC’s information for registrants, an interim suspension order made by the Investigating Committee cannot last longer than two months. One made by the Professional Conduct Committee lasts until the end of the PCC process. Orders take effect immediately and are not findings that the allegations are proved.

Do I need a lawyer for a GCC hearing?

It is your choice. You have the right to be legally represented, though you arrange and pay for it yourself. The GCC acts as the presenting party, so it cannot give you legal advice or tell you how to respond, and its staff will not help you prepare your case. Check whether your professional association membership or indemnity cover includes legal support, and contact them early.

What do the courses include?

Each course is self-paced online and available immediately 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 download a CPD certificate PDF with your name, course title and CPD hours.

Official sources

This page was checked against General Chiropractic 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.

GCC CPD requirements explained

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Pick the courses that match your concern, study at your own pace and add each certificate and reflection to your evidence.

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