Improving the accessibility of care

For the 2025/26 CPD year, Principle B of the Code of Professional Practice requires chiropractors to ensure safety and quality in clinical practice. Standard B5 requires chiropractors to recognise the importance of promoting accessible healthcare for all patients, and to recognise how this can be supported in practice.

Accessibility as part of Standard B5

The Code defines accessible healthcare as equitable provision that enables everybody to seek, physically connect and engage with it. This includes:

• providing information to help people identify a health problem and decide to seek help
• facilitating patients to seek help and obtain an appointment, including through communication and booking systems
• facilitating patients to get to appointments, for example through flexibility of appointment times, premises information and transportation guidance
• interaction and experience within the practice, including the physical environment, communication, cultural competency, and patient experience

The Code notes that accessible healthcare is of particular importance for people with protected characteristics, as it supports the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion. It also makes clear that what constitutes a reasonable measure to improve accessibility depends on each situation. A chiropractor must consider whether a measure will improve accessibility, whether it is practical to implement, whether it is affordable, and whether it could have a detrimental impact on others.

What does accessible care look like in practice?

Accessibility is not a single standard to meet. It is an ongoing process of reflection and improvement. For some practitioners it may mean reviewing whether clinic premises meet the needs of patients with mobility difficulties. For others it may mean considering how information is communicated to patients with low health literacy, or whether appointment times reflect the realistic needs of the patient group being served.

Small changes, such as a clearer cancellation policy, a ground-floor treatment room, or a follow-up call for a patient who disengaged from care, can make a meaningful difference to whether patients receive the care they need.

Reflecting on accessibility in your practice

As part of your Principle B reflection, you may wish to consider:

• whether there are groups of patients who may find it harder to access your care, and why
• whether you have received any feedback, formal or informal, that points to accessibility barriers
• any changes you have made in the past year to improve access, and how you know whether they have been effective
• what further steps you could take, and how you would sustain any improvements over time

These questions align directly with focused reflection question 2b, which asks how you will review and improve the quality and accessibility of care you provide, and how you will ensure those improvements are sustained.

Supporting resources

To support your reflection on accessibility and quality of care, you may find the following helpful:

• The Code of Professional Practice — Standard B5 on promoting accessible healthcare, and the glossary definitions of Accessible/accessibility (healthcare) and Reasonable measures (accessibility)
• RCC Dementia Friendly Assessment Tool — evidence-based guidance on dementia-friendly design and an Environmental Assessment Tool to support chiropractors in self-assessing the accessibility of their clinic environment
• RCC Patient Partnership Quality Mark (PPQM) — awarded to clinics that demonstrate excellence across a range of areas including accessibility, communication and safety; a useful framework for reviewing your practice
• NHS England Accessible Information Standard — sets out how health and care providers should ensure that disabled people and those with impairments or sensory loss can access and understand information; while this standard applies directly to NHS-funded services, it provides a useful benchmark for any healthcare provider