What this means
Start with the exact decision in front of you.
GOsC screeners first consider whether information can and should enter the fitness-to-practise process. Preserve the notice, clinical record and response date before assuming a complaint will reach a committee.
Immediate priorities
Organise the position before responding.
Save the complaint, enclosures and delivery record
Secure original clinical notes and communication records
Check indemnity and professional-association notification duties
Detailed guidance
The procedure, evidence and possible route from here.
01
Identify the screening question
GOsC gathers enough information for a screener to decide whether a concern can enter the statutory fitness-to-practise process. Read the complaint, covering letter and screener's request together. Record what is alleged, who made the complaint, which treatment or conduct is involved and the response date. Screening is an early jurisdiction and threshold stage, not a finding that unacceptable professional conduct or incompetence occurred.
Some matters may close because they are outside GOsC's powers or do not meet the initial criteria. The osteopath screener commonly consults a lay Investigating Committee member before closure. Identify whether the concern concerns title, registration, service dissatisfaction or possible fitness to practise. A practice complaint may still need a local response even if it does not become a regulatory case, but those outcomes should not be conflated.
- Save the full complaint and screening correspondence
- Identify the possible statutory allegation
- Record the screener's requested information
02
Preserve clinical and communication evidence
Secure original treatment notes, consent records, health questionnaires, appointment data, invoices and communications. Preserve audit information and do not add retrospective entries to the clinical record. If an explanation or correction is necessary, create a separately dated note identifying the original source. Build a chronology that distinguishes what the osteopath remembers from what later documents show, especially where the complaint follows a long interval.
Patient confidentiality continues during regulatory proceedings. Use GOsC's process for providing relevant records and consider lawful redaction of unrelated third-party information. Do not contact the complainant to persuade them to withdraw or align their account. If insurers, an employer, another practitioner or police are involved, record those processes and ensure factual accounts remain consistent without assuming they apply the same test as GOsC.
- Preserve unaltered records and audit trails
- Keep later explanation separately dated
- Protect unrelated confidential information
03
Make a proportionate early response
Answer the screener's questions directly and support important points with documents. Avoid submitting an unfocused life history or arguing sanction before GOsC has decided whether it can investigate. If further time or evidence is genuinely needed, explain the reason before the deadline. Check indemnity and professional-association notification terms, since early written notice may protect access to representation and practical support.
An investigation does not automatically restrict registration. Only a valid undertaking, interim suspension or substantive order changes the osteopath's ability to practise. Verify the register and any formal document rather than relying on the complainant's description. If the papers raise immediate risk, gather current safeguards promptly because the Investigating Committee may later consider undertakings or interim suspension during the investigation.
- Respond to screening rather than final sanction
- Check indemnity and support arrangements
- Verify any actual restriction on practice
Key questions
Keep the analysis tied to this stage.
Whether the concern falls within GOsC jurisdiction
Whether initial closure criteria apply
What information is needed for screening
Advice is provided only by the regulated firm that accepts a matter.
Common questions
Clarifying the route without assuming the outcome.
Does a GOsC complaint automatically go to the Investigating Committee?
No. GOsC first gathers information for screening, and a concern may close before formal investigation if the applicable criteria are not met.
Should I amend an incomplete clinical note?
Do not rewrite the original. Preserve it and provide any later explanation in a separately dated document with a clear source.
Connected guidance
Continue through the topic map.
Use the hub for the full sequence or choose the connected route that matches the notice.
Official sources
Check the material for this question.
Sources checked 19 September 2026. Rules change, so compare the current notice and linked official material and tell the operator if a citation or summary needs correction.