GOsC Responds To Positive Audit Of Complaints Handling, UK

The General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) welcomes the positive results of an audit of its complaints handling process by the independent statutory body overseeing the work of all healthcare regulators - the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE).


In September 2010 the CHRE conducted an audit of the way the GOsC handled complaints against osteopaths which had been formally closed, and not referred to a full hearing from March - August 2010.


The overall aim of the CHRE's audit, conducted across all UK healthcare regulators, is to seek assurance that the regulators' decisions protect patients and the public, maintaining confidence in the reputation of the professions and the system of regulation.


Along with examples of strengths in case handling by the GOsC, the CHRE's audit found that:


- cases reviewed and closed by the GOsC were reasonable and the reasons given were clear and comprehensive,


- the GOsC's complaints handling systems helped to deliver high-quality decisions communicated to parties in a professional way, and


- the GOsC has a well managed system of casework with no evidence of significant risks to patients or to the maintenance of public confidence.


GOsC Head of Regulation, Velia Soames, said: "We welcome the findings of the CHRE's audit that our systems and processes for dealing with the initial stages of a complaint are robust."