General Osteopathic Council Performance Review Published

Main Category: Complementary Medicine / Alternative Medicine
Article Date: 01 Sep 2008 - 2:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

The General Osteopathic Council welcomes the review of its performance, published recently, as an aid to improving service to patients and promoting public confidence in osteopaths.

The review of the GOsC forms part of the appraisal report - Performance review of health professions regulators 2007/08: Helping regulation to improve - produced by the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE).

In common with all the health professions regulators, the functions of the GOsC are assessed annually by the CHRE, an independent statutory body established by Parliament to ensure consistency and good practice in healthcare regulation.

The CHRE's findings and the GOsC's self-assessment, submitted as part of this review, are both available on the GOsC's website http://www.osteopathy.org.uk.

General Osteopathic Council

The General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) has a statutory duty to regulate the practice of osteopathic care in the UK. Osteopaths must be registered with the GOsC in order to practise in the UK.

We work with the public and profession to protect and promote patient safety through effective regulation of osteopaths in the UK by:

- registering qualified professionals
- setting 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 2008 Statutory Register of Osteopaths provides a geographical index of all practising osteopaths, and is available to healthcare providers and the general public. The Register is available online at: http://www.osteopathy.org.uk

The Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence is an independent body accountable to Parliament. Its primary purpose is to promote the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and other members of the public. It scrutinises and oversees the health professions regulators, works with them to identify and promote good practice in regulation, carries out research, develops policy and gives advice.

The health professions regulators are:

- The General Chiropractic Council.
- The General Dental Council.
- The General Medical Council.
- The General Optical Council.
- The General Osteopathic Council.
- The Health Professions Council.
- The Nursing and Midwifery Council.
- The Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland.
- The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.

Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence