General Chiropractic Council (GCC)

The General Chiropractic Council (GCC) was set up by parliament in order to regulate chiropractic practice whilst developing its position in society. They provide information to both chiropractors and consumers about what chiropractic involves and the standards that have been implicated.

The GCC provide consumers with a body that they can contact if they have any specific chiropractic-related queries. These may be about the profession, a chiropractor; certain techniques or even to see what it take to become a chiropractor themselves.


If you wish to practice as a chiropractor, you must be registered with the GCC else you are committing a criminal offence. Due to this registration rule, the GCC has a full database of all the legally working chiropractors in the UK. Therefore, if you are wishing to undergo a chiropractic procedure and would like to ensure that your chiropractor is registered (this is highly recommended) then you can check their online register.

The GCC is a UK based legal organisation that holds regulatory powers. The Chiropractors Act founded these regulations in 1994. These cover three key obligations:

  • Enabling the public to remain protected by creating and upholding such regulations for chiropractors that are not dissimilar to those covering other health workers, such as doctors.
  • To maintain the high standards expected in terms of education, practice and conduct of chiropractors.
  • To guarantee that the chiropractic profession is continuously being developed and improved with time to deliver the best possible treatment for consumers.

Who makes up the General Chiropractic staff?

There are three categories that segregate the staff members at the GCC – Council, committee and general staff (of which there are less than 20).

The General Council consists for 14 members. Half of these staff are non-chiropractors, whereas the other half are and have been specifically selected on an independent basis by the Appointments Commission. There are a number of rules to which the council must comply. Primarily, the General Council must obey the General Chiropractic Council’s Code of Conduct for Members of the Council. This ensures that they keep the register of chiropractors up-to-date. Normally, the General Council gathers 4 times each year to discuss important developments within the GCC and chiropractic world.

Another staff classification falls into the committees, of which there are 4 statutory one. The 4 Statutory Committees at present are:

  • The Investigating Committee
  • The Education Committee
  • The Professional Conduct Committee
  • The Health Committee

The Investigating Committee

The Investigating Committee has been established to look into all the complaints that have been made. Sometimes someone is displeased with a particular chiropractor that is registered with the General Chiropractic Council, they are then able to get in touch and the Investigating Committee will evaluate the situation.

If this committee comes to the conclusion that the complaint is well justified and that there is a case, they will then refer it to the Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Committee depending on the circumstances of the complaint.

The Education Committee

The Education Committee has been formed in order to ensure that all the education being provided to training chiropractors is of an acceptable standard and that they are receiving all the knowledge they require to be successful in the profession. The Education Committee must then promote good education standards to the various institutions that provide training. They must also continuously review the education system at present to evaluate if any improvement or adjustments are required.

The Education Committee ultimately decides the entire route that an individual must undertake to become a chiropractor. They recommend methods of training, education and competence exams to the General Council to consider and implicate.

The Professional Conduct Committee

The Professional Conduct Committee receives the forwarded cases from the Investigating Committee. They are responsible for deliberating over allegations against a chiropractor due to misconduct or malpractice. The Professional Conduct Committee can ultimately decide the professional fate of the chiropractor in question. They hold the power to impose the “Conditions of Practice” order. They can there suspend the chiropractor’s GCC registration or even order them to be struck off the register all together. This means that they can no longer call themselves a chiropractor or practice the trade legally.

The Health Committee

The Health Committee works hand-in-hand with the Professional Conduct Committee in deciding the fate of a chiropractor’s registration. The Health Committee deliberates over the cases referred to them that involve a patient’s physical or mental health suffering at the hands of a chiropractor. Like the Professional Conduct Committee, the Health Committee also withhold the power to impose a “Codes of Practice Order” or get a chiropractor’s registration suspended.

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