GOsC: CPD scheme and fitness to practise for osteopaths

The GOsC's scheme overview also says it randomly selects 5 to 10% of osteopaths each month to review their CPD evidence. Keeping records up to date as you go is the simplest way to be ready if you are selected.

The objective activity

The point of the objective activity is outside feedback on your practice, which you then analyse and reflect on. What you learn from the feedback, and what you change, matters as much as the activity itself. Record what the feedback showed, what surprised you and what you did next.

Communication and consent

This must be at least one CPD activity focused on communication and consent. For osteopaths, consent is closely tied to touch, exposure and explaining treatment options, so learning that deals with those situations is the most relevant. Our osteopathy ethics course covers informed consent in osteopathic examination and treatment, and shared decision-making, which makes it a natural fit for this element when you reflect on how it applies to your patients.

The Peer Discussion Review

The Peer Discussion Review happens towards the end of the cycle. You talk through your CPD record with a peer. It goes far better when you have reflective notes written during the cycle rather than reconstructed at the end. The reflective statement builder is a quick way to keep short, structured notes in your own words after each activity.

A useful habit for all three elements is to write two or three sentences within a week of each activity: what you did, what you noticed about your own practice, and one thing you will do differently. Those notes become the raw material for the review conversation, and they are also the kind of reflection a panel would expect to see if your practice were ever questioned. Keep them free of anything that could identify a patient, such as names, dates of birth or unusual clinical details.

The Osteopathic Practice Standards (OPS) are the standards of conduct and competence every osteopath must meet. The current version was published by the GOsC on 1 September 2018 and came into effect on 1 September 2019. It is organised in four themes:

• Communication and patient partnership
• Knowledge, skills and performance
• Safety and quality in practice
• Professionalism

These themes are a useful lens when you plan CPD: a year spent entirely on clinical technique leaves the communication and professionalism themes thin. They are also the standards a panel will measure your conduct against if a concern is raised.

Professionalism and Professional Standards for Osteopaths

Built around the Osteopathic Practice Standards. It covers patient-centred care, integrity, accountability, confidentiality, communication and record keeping, then the standards on knowledge and competence, safety and quality, and public trust. Later modules deal with boundaries, including the strict prohibition on sexual or romantic relationships with patients, commercial pressures and social media, what happens when standards are breached, and how professionalism links to fitness to practise.

Ethics and Ethical Standards for Osteopaths

Applies autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice to osteopathic work, including informed consent in examination and treatment and avoiding harm in manual therapy. It covers the GOsC fitness to practise process, CPD and reflective practice, honest advertising, the duty of candour, record keeping and professional boundaries in osteopathic practice.

Core modules for any concern

The Module on Insight, the Module on Reflection and the Module on Remediation cover the three ideas panels return to most often.

Each course takes about 2 hours, according to the course file, ends with 15 scenario-based questions with an 80% pass mark and a guided reflective account, and issues a certificate of completion from Healthcare Practise UK. Count them as learning alone in your CPD record. Prices are shown live from our course portal.