Information for GPs and other healthcare professionals
Osteopaths are statutorily regulated health professionals and form an integral part of primary care teams. GPs can safely refer patients to an osteopath and guidelines are published by the General Medical Council and British Medical Association.
How we can help
Against a backdrop of increasing GP workloads, made worse stretched further by limited resources, osteopathy offers a cost-effective source of healthcare. Problems such as back pain cost the NHS and industry billions of pounds a year.
- Osteopaths help to keep patients mobile and already succeed in keeping an estimated 25,000 patients a day out of doctors' surgeries and off hospital waiting lists.
- Speedy access to osteopathic care for acute patients often averts the possibility of conditions becoming chronic.
- Osteopathy can help to reduce pain and minimise dependency on drugs.
- Osteopathy can obviate the need for further medical investigation or surgical intervention.
Access to the General Osteopathic Council Register can only be achieved with a Recognised Qualification from one of the accredited schools in the UK. All schools are validated by universities and offer four- to five-year courses. Osteopaths are highly skilled practitioners with sound clinical experience, committed to lifelong learning through the implementation of Continuing Professional Development from 2004.
Many randomly-controlled trials suggest osteopathy is effective for low back pain. The Clinical Standards Advisory Group (CSAG) report on Back Pain (1994) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Guidelines for the Management of Acute Low Back Pain (1999) support the provision of osteopathic treatment for these conditions.
