Professionalism and Professional Standards for Chiropractors

About this course

Chiropractic care involves hands-on treatment, often over a series of appointments, usually in private practice and frequently with patients who are in pain. These features make professionalism especially important: they create a power imbalance, the possibility of dependency, and commercial pressures that can conflict with clinical judgement. This course explains what professionalism means for chiropractors and how the General Chiropractic Council's standards apply in everyday practice.

The GCC's Code of Professional Practice came into effect on 1 January 2026, replacing the Code that had applied since 2016. This course is based on the new Code. It covers the core principles of professional practice, the values and ten principles of the Code, professional boundaries, commercial pressures and advertising, breaches and their consequences, the GCC's fitness to practise process, and how chiropractors can show insight and remediation when concerns arise.

For GCC CPD purposes, this course is self-directed learning. It can count towards your 30 hours for the CPD year, but it does not count towards the 15 hours of learning with others unless you complete it as part of an interactive group session. Record the time you actually spend.

CPD Value and How to Record It:

This course is designed to provide approximately 2 hours of learning, including reading, the reflection points, the reflective account and the assessment. In the UK, CPD is generally recorded as the time actually spent learning, so you should record the time you genuinely spend, which may be more or less than the estimate.

How the course fits your revalidation or CPD requirements depends on your regulator. For example, the NMC asks nurses, midwives and nursing associates to record 35 hours of CPD over three years, of which at least 20 must be participatory; self-directed online learning such as this course usually counts as individual learning unless you complete it with others. The GMC expects doctors to reflect on CPD for appraisal and revalidation rather than setting a fixed number of hours. The HCPC, GDC, GPhC, GOC, GOsC and GCC each set their own CPD requirements, so check the current rules that apply to you. Always keep your certificate together with your written reflection.

What you will learn

• Define professionalism in chiropractic practice and explain why it matters to patient safety and public trust.
• Apply the core principles of patient-centred care, integrity, accountability, confidentiality and teamwork.
• Describe the values and ten principles of the GCC Code of Professional Practice.
• Maintain professional boundaries in a hands-on clinical environment.
• Manage commercial pressures, payment plans and advertising claims ethically.
• Recognise breaches of professional standards and understand the GCC's fitness to practise process.
• Keep accurate, lawful clinical records and apply the duty of candour.
• Use reflection, CPD and remediation to maintain and demonstrate fitness to practise.

Who this course is for

Chiropractors registered with the General Chiropractic Council, including those responding to a complaint or fitness to practise concern.

Course content

9 sections · 2 CPD hours · 15 MCQs

Course facts

CPD value

Approximately 2 CPD hours (estimated learning time, including reflection and assessment)

Format

Self-paced reading with case illustrations, reflection points and a written reflective account

Standards covered

GCC Code of Professional Practice (in effect from 1 January 2026); GCC CPD requirements; Chiropractors Act 1994; ASA and CAP guidance on chiropractic advertising; UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018

Assessment

15 scenario-based multiple-choice questions; pass mark 12 out of 15 (80%)

Questions about this course