GCC courses are searched for by chiropractors in two situations: a concern has been raised with the General Chiropractic Council about your conduct, a boundary with a patient or a colleague, consent, your records, honesty or your clinical care, and you need to show what you have done before the Investigating Committee or a Practice Committee decides; or you are planning your CPD year and want learning with a dated certificate for your CPD summary. This guide sets out, from the GCC’s own pages, how a concern runs, the Code of Professional Practice it is measured against, which course fits each concern, how the courses sit beside GCC CPD, and the price. Each online course is £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10) for 2 CPD hours, online and self-paced, and Probity & Ethics is CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197).
Facing a GCC concern?
A complaint, a letter from the GCC or an interim suspension hearing about your practice or your conduct. You want to show insight and the steps you have taken before the Investigating Committee, the Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Committee decides.
Planning your GCC CPD?
You need at least 30 hours of CPD each year, at least 15 of them learning with others, a reflection on each activity and your summary in by 31 August, and want a course with a dated certificate that fits your learning plan.
In short
- The GCC reviews a concern, gathers information, and gives you the details and an opportunity to respond. An independent Investigating Committee then decides whether to close the case, give advice, or refer it to the Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Committee for a hearing.
- At a hearing, a committee that finds you not fit to practise can give a warning, set conditions on how you practise, suspend you or remove you from the register. Where there is a risk to the public, the Investigating Committee can make an interim suspension order while a case continues.
- Every chiropractor must meet the Code of Professional Practice, in force since 1 January 2026, with ten principles from A to J. A CPD course on the principle in question, with a reflection, is evidence of insight and remediation.
- Our CPD courses are online learning on your own, so they count towards your 30 hours but not the 15 hours of learning with others. Each CPD course is £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10); the modules are £49. All the CPD courses linked from this guide are by Probity & Ethics, written by Dr Shehzad Iqbal.
- Every GCC remediation course, with the courses grouped by the type of concern, is on one page: GCC remediation courses.
How does a GCC concern run, and where does a course fit?
When the GCC receives a concern it reviews it before deciding whether to begin an investigation, and contacts the person who raised it within 7 days. It gathers information, which can include a written statement and, with consent, health records. You receive the details of the concern and have an opportunity to respond.
The case then goes to the Investigating Committee, an independent committee of chiropractors and lay members, which reviews all the information. You are given an opportunity to comment on the material it will consider. It can:
- close the case where there is no case to answer, in whole or in part;
- give advice, designed to support future compliance with the Code; advice is not a formal sanction and does not go on the register;
- adjourn for further enquiries; or
- refer the case to the Professional Conduct Committee (unacceptable professional conduct, professional incompetence or a conviction) or the Health Committee (serious impairment through ill health) for a formal hearing.
Where it is necessary to protect the public, the Investigating Committee can make an interim suspension order, which suspends your registration while the concern is considered. Formal hearings are held by video conference and are open to the public, with parts held in private where confidential or intimate information is discussed. The allegations and the notice of hearing are published on the GCC’s website 28 days before the hearing.
If the committee finds that you are not fit to practise, it can give a warning, set conditions that limit how you practise, suspend you or remove you from the register. Your written response, and what you bring to a hearing, are the points at which a course matters: they show what you have learned and changed.
Which standards is a GCC concern measured against?
The GCC’s Code of Professional Practice, published on 31 December 2024 and in force since 1 January 2026, sets ten principles that every chiropractor must meet, each with numbered standards. Each principle has a course that answers it.
| Chiropractors must… | The course that answers it |
|---|---|
| A. Put the interests of patients first | Ethics and Ethical Standards for Chiropractors |
| B. Ensure safety and quality in clinical practice | Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety |
| C. Act with honesty and integrity, and maintain the highest standards of professional and personal conduct (including C11, the duty of candour) | Probity for Healthcare Professionals; Duty of Candour in Healthcare Practice; Professionalism and Professional Standards for Chiropractors |
| D. Provide a good standard of clinical care and professional practice (including case history and examination records) | Professionalism in Documentation; Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety |
| E. Establish and maintain clear professional boundaries | Professional Boundaries for Clinicians; Ethical Boundaries with Patients and Colleagues |
| F. Obtain appropriate, valid consent from patients | Privacy, Consent and Chaperone in Healthcare Practice |
| G. Communicate professionally, properly and effectively (including responding to complaints) | Ensuring Effective Communication as Healthcare Professionals; How to Deal with a Complaint or Investigation |
| H. Foster collaborative healthcare, effective professional relationships and safe, supportive workplace practice | Ensuring Teamwork and Collaboration |
| I. Maintain, develop and work within your professional knowledge and skills | Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety |
| J. Maintain and protect information about patients | Ensuring Confidentiality in Healthcare Practice; Professionalism in Documentation |
Which GCC course fits which concern?
Start from the concern as the GCC has described it, take the course on that subject, then add the short modules that are about the response itself.
- A boundary with a patient or a colleague, including undressing, chaperones, a dual relationship or contact on social media: Professional Boundaries for Clinicians, Ethical Boundaries with Patients and Colleagues or Professionalism and Boundaries in Use of Social Media.
- Consent, or a treatment the patient did not understand: Privacy, Consent and Chaperone in Healthcare Practice with Ensuring Effective Communication as Healthcare Professionals.
- Records, a case history or an examination not recorded: Professionalism in Documentation and Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety.
- Honesty, advertising or fees, including claims about what treatment can do: Probity for Healthcare Professionals and Financial Integrity for Healthcare Professionals.
- Confidentiality, including online and remote consultations: Ensuring Confidentiality in Healthcare Practice.
- A complaint handled badly, or a patient not told when something went wrong: How to Deal with a Complaint or Investigation and Duty of Candour in Healthcare Practice.
- Conduct outside practice, such as a conviction or caution: Professionalism and Professional Standards for Chiropractors and Probity for Healthcare Professionals.
- The Code as a whole: Ethics and Ethical Standards for Chiropractors and Professionalism and Professional Standards for Chiropractors. Why the ethics course matters once the GCC is investigating is in Why Is a GCC Ethics Course Important for Chiropractors Under Investigation?.
- The response itself: Module on Insight, Module on Reflection and Module on Remediation.
How do the courses fit GCC CPD?
GCC CPD is a statutory requirement. Each CPD year you must undertake and record at least 30 hours of CPD in line with your personal learning plan, and at least 15 of those hours must be learning with others, which needs direct and immediate interaction with a presenter, organiser or others present. Each activity needs its own reflective statement, and your CPD summary is completed online in the GCC Registrant Portal by 31 August. For 2025/26 every chiropractor also completes a focused reflection on Principle B of the Code, safety and quality in clinical practice.
Our courses are online and self-paced, so they count as learning on your own: they fit within your 30 hours, but not within the 15 hours of learning with others. Where they fit: as learning on a principle of the Code that your learning plan names; as material for the reflective statements, each course ending with a reflection on your own practice; and, in a fitness to practise case, as evidence of remediation alongside your response. Each certificate records the course title, the CPD hours and the date, and Probity & Ethics courses are CPD accredited and certified through The CPD Certification Service. Check the GCC’s own CPD page, or your Registrant Portal, for what your summary must show.
What to do: five steps after a GCC letter
- Get advice the same day. Contact your professional indemnity insurer, your professional association or a solicitor before you reply to the GCC.
- Read the concern line by line. Note which principle and standard of the Code each point relates to, and the date your response is due.
- Keep to the facts. Gather the patient records, consent forms, appointment notes, advertising and messages that relate to the concern.
- Start remediation that matches the concern. Take the course on the subject of the concern, keep notes after each section, and add the Modules on Insight and Reflection.
- Write a reflection that shows insight. What happened, which principle of the Code it fell short of, the effect on the patient and on trust in chiropractors, and what you have changed in your practice.
Please note
No course can guarantee the outcome of a complaint, investigation or hearing, and each regulator decides each case on its facts. Take advice from your indemnity insurer, professional association or legal representative before you send anything to your regulator. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Our GCC courses and the Bulk Buy offer
Every course below is online and self-paced, with immediate access and a dated certificate. They serve a chiropractor responding to a complaint or a GCC concern, and one planning CPD and a learning plan.
Course for chiropractors
Ethics and Ethical Standards for Chiropractors
The GCC’s Code of Professional Practice and the ethical principles behind it, applied to chiropractic practice, with insight, reflection and remediation at the end. Probity & Ethics courses are CPD accredited and certified through The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197).
- £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10)
- 2 CPD hours
- Certificate on completion
Courses by subject
Any 3 courses for £200, 5 for £300, 10 for £500. The £49 Modules count towards the packages too. Unsure where to start? Book a free call or use which course do I need.
Course guides for other UK regulators:
- DoctorsGMC
- Nurses and midwivesNMC
- Dental teamGDC
- PharmacistsGPhC
- HCPC professionsHCPC
- Optometrists and dispensing opticiansGOC
Guides that help
This guide is part of our Professional Misconduct hub, which brings together every Probity & Ethics guide and course on the subject.
The CPD courses linked from this guide, Ethics and Ethical Standards for Chiropractors, Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety as Healthcare Professionals, Probity for Healthcare Professionals and Duty of Candour in Healthcare Practice, are by Probity & Ethics, written by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197) and offered since 2020.
Questions and answers
Which course should I take after a GCC concern?
Take the course on the subject of the concern as the GCC has described it: a boundary with a patient or a colleague, consent, records, honesty, confidentiality or a clinical matter. Add Ethics and Ethical Standards for Chiropractors or Professionalism and Professional Standards for Chiropractors for the Code as a whole, and the Module on Insight or Reflection for your response. Each subject course is £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10); the modules are £49.
What can the GCC Investigating Committee decide?
The Investigating Committee, an independent committee of chiropractors and lay members, reviews the information about the concern, including your comments on it. It can close the case where there is no case to answer, give advice (which is not a formal sanction and does not go on the register), adjourn for further enquiries, or refer the case to the Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Committee for a formal hearing.
Can the GCC suspend me while a concern is investigated?
Yes. Where it is necessary to protect the public, the Investigating Committee can make an interim suspension order, which suspends your registration while the concern is considered.
What can a GCC committee do at a hearing?
If the Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Committee finds that you are not fit to practise, it can give a warning, set conditions that limit how you practise, suspend you or remove you from the register. Hearings are held by video conference and are open to the public, and the allegations are published on the GCC website 28 days before the hearing.
How many CPD hours do GCC chiropractors need?
Each CPD year you must undertake and record at least 30 hours of CPD in line with your personal learning plan, with at least 15 hours of learning with others, a reflective statement for each activity, and your CPD summary completed online by 31 August. For 2025/26 every chiropractor also completes a focused reflection on Principle B of the Code, safety and quality in clinical practice.
Do your courses count towards GCC CPD?
Our courses are online and self-paced, so they count as learning on your own: they fit within your 30 hours, but not within the 15 hours of learning with others. They are CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197) and each has a dated certificate and 2 CPD hours for your summary and your reflective statements.
Which principles of the GCC Code do the courses cover?
The Code of Professional Practice, in force since 1 January 2026, has ten principles from A to J. The courses cover the conduct principles in particular: honesty and integrity, including the duty of candour (C), records and clinical care (D), professional boundaries (E), consent (F), communication and complaints (G), teamwork (H) and patient information (J).
How much do the GCC courses cost?
Each subject course is £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10), for 2 CPD hours. The Modules on Insight, Reflection and Remediation are £49, for 1.5 CPD hours each. Any 3 courses cost £200, 5 cost £300 and 10 cost £500.
Sources
This guide is based on the following GCC pages, checked on 2 November 2026.
