GOsC courses are searched for by osteopaths in two situations: a concern has been raised with the General Osteopathic Council about your conduct, a boundary with a patient or a colleague, consent, your communication, your records or your clinical care, and you need to show what you have done before the Investigating Committee or the Professional Conduct Committee decides; or you are planning your CPD cycle and want learning with a dated certificate for your record. This guide sets out, from the GOsC’s own pages, how a concern runs, the Osteopathic Practice Standards it is measured against, which course fits each concern, how the courses sit beside GOsC 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 GOsC concern?
A complaint, a letter from the GOsC 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 or the Professional Conduct Committee decides.
Planning your GOsC CPD?
You need 90 hours over your three-year cycle, at least 45 of them learning with others, covering all four themes of the Osteopathic Practice Standards, and want a course with a dated certificate for your record.
In short
- A screener, an independent osteopath, decides whether the GOsC can investigate a concern. The Investigating Committee then considers the concern and your response, and decides whether there is a case to answer; if there is, the case goes to a hearing.
- The Professional Conduct Committee can give an admonishment, make a conditions of practice order, suspend you for up to three years or remove you from the register. In serious cases the Investigating Committee can make an interim suspension order while a case continues.
- Every osteopath must meet the Osteopathic Practice Standards, in four themes from A to D. The GOsC’s sanctions guidance counts relevant CPD and courses as mitigation, so a CPD course on the standard 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 90 hours but not the 45 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 GOsC remediation course, with the courses grouped by the type of concern, is on one page: GOsC remediation courses.
How does a GOsC concern run, and where does a course fit?
When a concern reaches the GOsC with enough detail, a screener, an independent osteopath, decides whether the GOsC can investigate it, using the GOsC’s threshold criteria. A screener cannot close a concern without speaking to a lay member of the Investigating Committee, except under the initial closure procedure.
If the concern is investigated, you are usually sent the details and asked for a response. The evidence can include a statement from the person who raised the concern and information from others, such as patient records. The Investigating Committee, with osteopath and lay members and a lay chair, then decides whether the evidence supports the concern and whether it points to unacceptable professional conduct, professional incompetence, a relevant criminal conviction or a health condition that seriously affects your ability to practise. The GOsC aims for this within 26 weeks of receiving the concern.
- If there is no case to answer, the concern is closed and the GOsC explains why.
- If there is a case to answer, a hearing is arranged before the Professional Conduct Committee (conduct, competence or a conviction) or the Health Committee (health).
- In serious cases the Investigating Committee can make an interim suspension order, which stops you practising until the case ends.
Professional Conduct Committee hearings are usually held in public. Where a case is found well founded, the committee must impose a sanction: an admonishment, a conditions of practice order, a suspension order of up to three years, or removal from the register. Some cases can be concluded without a hearing under Rule 8, with an admonishment, where you admit the facts. The GOsC’s hearings and sanctions guidance lists “relevant CPD and courses completed by the osteopath” among the mitigating factors, with steps taken to avoid repetition and remedial action. Your written response, and what you bring to a hearing, are the points at which a course matters.
Which standards is a GOsC concern measured against?
The GOsC’s Osteopathic Practice Standards, in force since 1 September 2019, set out what every osteopath must meet in four themes. Each theme has a course that answers it.
Which GOsC course fits which concern?
Start from the concern as the GOsC 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 consultations and messages: 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 Osteopaths and Probity for Healthcare Professionals.
- The standards as a whole: Ethics and Ethical Standards for Osteopaths and Professionalism and Professional Standards for Osteopaths.
- The response itself: Module on Insight, Module on Reflection and Module on Remediation.
How do the courses fit GOsC CPD?
Over a three-year cycle every osteopath needs 90 hours of CPD, at least 45 hours of them learning with others. Your CPD should cover all four themes of the Osteopathic Practice Standards and reflect the breadth of your practice, and it must include at least one objective activity (such as case-based discussion, patient feedback, peer observation or clinical audit), at least one activity on communication and consent, and a Peer Discussion Review towards the end of the cycle. The GOsC checks a sample of CPD records each month.
Our courses are online and self-paced, so they count as learning on your own: they fit within your 90 hours, but not within the 45 hours of learning with others. Where they fit: as learning on a theme of the standards your plan names; with a reflection on the GOsC’s consent and communication guidance, towards your communication and consent activity; as material for your Peer Discussion Review; 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 GOsC’s own CPD pages for what your record must show.
What to do: five steps after a GOsC letter
- Get advice the same day. Contact your professional indemnity insurer, the Institute of Osteopathy or a solicitor before you reply to the GOsC.
- Read the concern line by line. Note which theme and standard of the Osteopathic Practice Standards each point relates to, and the date your response is due.
- Keep to the facts. Gather the case notes, consent records, 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 standard it fell short of, the effect on the patient and on trust in osteopaths, 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 GOsC courses and the Bulk Buy offer
Every course below is online and self-paced, with immediate access and a dated certificate. They serve an osteopath responding to a complaint or a GOsC concern, and one planning CPD for the three-year cycle.
Course for osteopaths
Ethics and Ethical Standards for Osteopaths
The Osteopathic Practice Standards and the ethical principles behind them, applied to osteopathic 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
- ChiropractorsGCC
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, Privacy, Consent and Chaperone in Healthcare Practice, Ensuring Effective Communication as Healthcare Professionals, Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety as Healthcare Professionals and Professionalism in Documentation for Healthcare Professionals, 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 GOsC concern?
Take the course on the subject of the concern as the GOsC has described it: a boundary with a patient or a colleague, consent, communication, records, honesty, confidentiality or a clinical matter. Add Ethics and Ethical Standards for Osteopaths or Professionalism and Professional Standards for Osteopaths for the Osteopathic Practice Standards 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 does the GOsC Investigating Committee decide?
After a screener, an independent osteopath, decides the GOsC can investigate, the Investigating Committee, with osteopath and lay members and a lay chair, considers the concern and your response. It decides whether there is a case to answer: if not, the concern is closed and the GOsC explains why; if there is, a hearing is arranged before the Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Committee. The GOsC aims for the Investigating Committee to consider a concern within 26 weeks.
Can the GOsC suspend me while a concern is investigated?
Yes. The Investigating Committee can make an interim suspension order, which stops you practising until the case ends. The GOsC uses it only in serious cases, such as very significant sexual boundary issues, police charges for a serious offence, or patient care at a low standard.
What can the Professional Conduct Committee do?
If it finds a case well founded, the Professional Conduct Committee must impose a sanction: an admonishment, a conditions of practice order, a suspension order of up to three years, or removal from the register. Hearings are usually held in public. Some cases can be concluded without a hearing under Rule 8, with an admonishment, where the osteopath admits the facts.
Does the GOsC take courses into account?
The GOsC’s hearings and sanctions guidance lists relevant CPD and courses completed by the osteopath among the mitigating factors, alongside steps taken to avoid repetition and remedial action. The committee looks for real evidence that you have looked back at your conduct with a self-critical eye, which is why a course is best followed by a written reflection.
How many CPD hours do osteopaths need?
Over a three-year CPD cycle you need 90 hours of CPD, at least 45 of them learning with others. Your CPD should cover all four themes of the Osteopathic Practice Standards and include at least one objective activity, at least one activity on communication and consent, and a Peer Discussion Review towards the end of the cycle.
Do your courses count towards GOsC CPD?
Our courses are online and self-paced, so they count as learning on your own: they fit within your 90 hours, but not within the 45 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 with its CPD hours. The consent and communication courses, with a reflection on the GOsC’s guidance, can support your communication and consent activity.
How much do the GOsC 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 GOsC pages, checked on 3 November 2026.
