PSA publishes its review of the General Chiropractic Council performance for 2024/25

We have published our annual performance review of the General Chiropractic Council (GCC). During 2024/25, we monitored the GCC’s performance against the Standards of Good Regulation (the Standards).

For this period, the GCC has met 17 out of the 18 Standards. Our report explains how we made our decision. 

The performance review is our check on how well the regulators have been protecting the public and promoting confidence in the health and care professions.

In 2024, we introduced a new approach to assessing regulators against our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Standard. In order to meet the Standard, regulators must assure us they are delivering the four high-level outcomes supported by our evidence matrix. The GCC continues to perform well against this Standard and met it again this year. It has carried out an impressive volume of activity for a regulator of its size and its work on EDI is clearly recognised and welcomed by its stakeholders. A gap which we identified last year in the GCC’s fitness to practise guidance remains, but the GCC is working to address this through updates that will also support the implementation of its new Code of Professional Practice for registrants. We will monitor the GCC’s work to address this gap.

The GCC published a new Code of Professional Practice for registrants this year. It will come into effect from 1 January 2026. The GCC is updating its existing guidance to support the implementation of the new Code and is also identifying topics where new guidance may help registrants to apply the standards. We will monitor the implementation of the new Code and the accompanying guidance.

The GCC did not meet Standard 15 last year because it was taking too long to investigate fitness to practise cases. The GCC implemented improvement measures last year and introduced further measures this year. Improvements have not yet materialised and timeliness remains largely the same as last year. We concluded that the GCC did not meet Standard 15 this year.

The judgements we make against each Standard incorporate a range of evidence to form an overall picture of performance. Meeting a Standard means that we are satisfied that a regulator is performing well in that area. It does not mean there is no room for improvement. Similarly, finding that a regulator has met all of the Standards does not mean perfection. Rather, it signifies good performance in the 18 areas we assess.

Our reviews do not stop when we publish our report. They are an ongoing, continuous process and, where we’ve identified areas for improvement, we pay particular attention to these as we continue to monitor the regulator’s performance.

You can find out more about the GCC’s review in the full report (download from below). You can find out more about how we review the regulators here.

ENDS

Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care

Contact: media@professionalstandards.org.uk