Complaints about an Osteopath

If you have a bad experience during your osteopathic visit then you should certainly consider reporting a complaint to the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC).

Worry and Concern about Your Treatment

If you are concerned about the type and level of your treatment then you should discuss your worries with your osteopath. You may find that any concern that you have is based on a misconception or a misunderstanding. Your osteopath will be more than happy to give you as much (or as little) information as you want about your condition and your treatment.


If you do not feel comfortable talking about your concerns with your osteopath then it might be a good idea to try to talk to one of the other osteopaths in the clinic. If your osteopath works alone (so there is no other osteopath in the clinic) then you could visit another local osteopath to get another opinion. Most osteopaths would be willing to discuss your concerns over the phone if you would prefer not to make another appointment with a different osteopath. However, if you don’t feel that you can talk with your current osteopath, then you should probably consider switching to a different osteopath.

Contacting the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC)

If you are still concerned after speaking to your osteopath and getting a second opinion or if you wish to make a complaint then you should contact the General Osteopathic Council. The General Osteopathic Council regulates all the osteopaths that practise in the UK and publish the code of practise that they have to adhere to.  It is very easy to make a complaint to the General Osteopathic Council either via their website, over the phone or in writing.

Once you have made the initial contact with the General Osteopathic Council, a formal complaint will be created and you will need to give as much information as possible to the “Fitness to Practise” department of the council. This will start the process for the council to question whether the osteopath that you have concerns about is working within the standards of proficiency and code of ethics required.

The information that you give will be assessed to see whether the complaint is serious enough (and whether there is enough evidence) to investigate the complaint by contacting the osteopath in question. At this point you will be contacted as the next step will involve revealing your identity and allegations to the osteopath. In the case of a serious complaint, the osteopath may face a professional standards committee and could be struck of the register, have restrictions imposed on their practise or be suspended.

So, if you have a concern, talk to the osteopath first. But, if the allegations are serious, be assured that your complaint will be taken seriously.

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