The Code of Professional Practice

Following an extensive development and consultation process (including a scoping review, code conversation and formal consultation), the General Chiropractic Council agreed on the meeting on 5 December 2024 to a new Code of Professional Practice.

In line with the provisions of section 13 of the Chiropractors Act 1994, this Code of Professional Practice will come into effect from 1 January 2026, and on that date will replace the current Code (2016). From 1 Janaury 2026, all Chiropractors will be required to follow the standards within the Code of Professional Practice.

The legislation states that the statement of the standards of proficiency (which form part of the Code of Professional Practice) must be published a year before they are implemented, to give the chiropractic profession time to prepare. To meet with our legislative requirements, the following documents are published on 31 December 2024:

• The Code of Professional Practice
• The Equality Impact Assessment (incorporating Welsh Language Impact Assessment)
• How the Code of Professional Practice relates to the Code (2016)
• Statement of Standards of Proficiency compared between The Code (2016) and the Code of Professional Practice 

Though not forming part of the legislation, the GCC has also published two documents in response to the consultation which ran from 22 July until 27 September 2024:

• An independent report setting out the findings of the consultation
• A report on the changes made to the proposed Code of Professional Practice following the consultation.

Over the coming weeks and months we will be reviewing the previously published guidance and toolkits to ensure that they reflect the new Code of Professional Practice. Further information will be provided through the GCC registrant newsletter.

In the meantime, registrants should start to plan for the new Code of Professional Practice and considering how the changes may affect their practice.