Professional Boundaries and Ethics Course: One Course or Two?

Written and reviewed by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, MBBS, MRCS, MRCGP, Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Law and Ethics · Updated 5 November 2026

Is there one course that covers professional boundaries and ethics?

Yes. Ethical Boundaries with Patients and Colleagues is a single online course that looks at the boundary in a professional relationship through the ethical duties behind it: why the line exists, whose interest it protects, and what a professional owes a patient or a colleague when the line starts to blur. It covers dual relationships, conduct towards a colleague as well as a patient, and the reflection that shows you understand why a breach matters. One course, one certificate, 2 CPD hours.

That suits a concern where the boundary and the ethics are the same question, for example a friendship with a patient that drifted, a dual relationship that was not managed, or remarks to a colleague that crossed a line.

Why ethics and boundaries are asked for together

A boundary is an ethical duty put into practice. Every UK regulator places the duty to keep a boundary on the professional, not on the patient or the colleague, and each regulator’s standards put that duty beside honesty, respect and trust. So when an employer, a case examiner or a panel reads a boundaries concern, it asks two things: did you understand where the line was, and do you understand why it is there? The first is the boundaries subject; the second is the ethics subject.

That is why an action plan, an employer’s outcome letter or a defence adviser may ask for “ethics and boundaries” work. The clause-by-clause wording each of the nine regulators uses is set out in our guide to the professional boundaries course, and the difference between a crossing and a violation is in boundary crossing vs boundary violation.

One course or two: how to decide

Read the words you were given, then match them.

1. The request names one subject, “ethical boundaries” or “boundaries”. One course answers it: Ethical Boundaries with Patients and Colleagues, or Professional Boundaries for Clinicians if the concern is about an examination, a chaperone or contact online.
2. The request names two subjects, “ethics and professional boundaries”. Take two courses so that both titles appear on dated certificates: Professional Boundaries for Clinicians, and an ethics course for your register (for example Ethics and Ethical Standards for Nurses and Midwives) or Ethics for Healthcare Professionals.
3. Nobody has named a subject. Start from the facts of the concern. A boundary matter with no wider ethics question needs one course; a boundary matter that also raised honesty, consent or confidentiality needs the second course on that subject.
4. You are not sure. Ask the person who set the requirement what they expect to see, and keep their reply. A clear record of what was asked and what you did is worth more than an extra certificate.

Ethics and boundaries courses after a complaint or investigation

A course is one part of remediation. What the decision maker reads is your written reflection: what happened, why the boundary mattered, what you now do differently, and the dated certificate that shows when you acted. Two certificates with no reflection carry less weight than one certificate with an honest account. Add Module on Reflection (£49, 1.5 CPD hours) if you have not written a reflective piece before.

Timing matters too. Finish the course before you send your response or before the hearing, and name in the reflection the standard the course addressed. What to send and when is in our guide to a fitness to practise complaint.

Ethics and boundaries CPD

With no concern raised, one course covers both subjects for CPD: the ethical boundaries course gives 2 hours on a topic every regulator’s standards name. Two courses give 4 hours and a broader record if your appraiser or your personal development plan asks for ethics as a subject of its own. In both cases, write a short reflection on how the learning changes your practice; the reflection is what makes the hours count for appraisal, revalidation or renewal. How ethics CPD is recorded for each regulator is in our ethics CPD course guide.

Also read: Face-to-Face Professional Boundaries Course: How a Live Day Helps With a Boundaries Allegation.

The courses and Bulk Buy

Two courses, one on each subject

Ethics courses written to each register are listed in the ethics CPD course guide. Bulk Buy covers the £79 courses: 3 for £200, 5 for £300, 10 for £500. Not sure which pair fits? Book a free 15-minute call or see which course do I need.

Guides that help

The CPD courses linked from this guide, Ethical Boundaries with Patients and Colleagues, Professional Boundaries for Clinicians, Module on Reflection and Ethics 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