This code is entered into voluntarily by all members of the SPMPO.

1. An Osteopathic Practitioner will conduct himself or herself in his or her professional duties in accordance with this code as approved by the Society.

2. An Osteopathic Practitioner must maintain his or her knowledge and practice at an acceptable level of competence - by demonstrating the willingness to earn continuing professional development (CPD) credits annually. Until such time as a sufficient number of relevant CPD courses are locally available, however, there will be no stipulation as to the minimum number of these credits to be earned annually.

3. An Osteopathic Practitioner must only perform or participate in those procedures that are within his or her competency, and for which he or she is appropriately qualified; and must refer those patients whose needs or requests are outside his or her competency.

4. All services and functions practised by an Osteopathic Practitioner must be provided in accordance with this code.

5. An Osteopathic Practitioner's ordinary place of practice must provide privacy and confidentiality for his or her patients and their records.

6. An Osteopathic Practitioner must not exploit his or her relationship with a patient in any way. In particular there must not be a sexual relationship with a patient during the professional relationship.

7. An Osteopathic Practitioner must refrain from criticising colleagues in public, or in a clinical setting, in a manner which casts doubts on the colleague's professional competence. This does not apply to the critical evaluation of published works nor to expert testimony in court.

8. An Osteopathic Practitioner must not, unless required by law, divulge information about a patient unless the patient specifically authorises the release in writing. Even under these circumstances, an Osteopathic Practitioner should be aware of the necessity of preserving confidentiality as much as possible. For example, in court, an Osteopathic Practitioner may request the judge or magistrate to permit the suppression of information not relevant to the matter being decided.

9. An Osteopathic Practitioner must inform his or her patients at the commencement of a course of treatment of the reasonable foreseeable implications, including material risks, complications and reactions, and explain the nature and purpose of the treatment.

10. An Osteopathic Practitioner must not undertake research involving human subjects without the research protocol being approved by a properly constituted ethics committee. This applies in particular to students or trainees who are being considered as subjects for research.

11. An Osteopathic Practitioner must not approve of or collaborate in the use of osteopathic techniques by untrained persons except when those persons are in supervised training.

12. An Osteopathic Practitioner must respect the ethical, religious and political beliefs of his or her patients and must be willing to refer patients to a more suitable osteopath should such issues seem likely to affect the professional relationship.

13. An Osteopathic Practitioner must respect the wish of a patient for a second opinion and must, if practicable, help the patient obtain a competent second opinion.

14. If an Osteopathic Practitioner has reason to believe that a colleague is behaving in an unprofessional manner, or that his or her standard of practice falls substantially below acceptable standards then, if practicable, the colleague must be approached in a helpful way. If this is not practicable, then the Osteopathic Practitioner should report the behaviour to the Society - which will then have to meet to consider any appropriate action.

15. An Osteopathic Practitioner must not treat a patient whilst his or her ability to do so is impaired by the influence of alcohol or drugs.

16. An Osteopathic Practitioner in practice, and for a minimum of seven years after retiring from practice, must maintain Professional Indemnity Insurance coverage - in an amount judged to be sufficient by the Board at the time.

17. An Osteopathic Practitioner must immediately advise the Society in the event of any of the following.