About the Institute of Osteopathy

The Institute of Osteopathy (iO) is the professional membership body representing UK Osteopathy. Our membership consists of nearly three-quarters of UK registered osteopaths and two-thirds of the current student body across the UK. Central to the iO’s purpose is the support of our members. We provide a range of services, resources and best practice advice in clinical development, business practice and engagement opportunities, that support our members to provide high-quality healthcare services.

Osteopathy is a gentle and effective hands-on approach to healthcare, based on the principle that the way your body moves influences how it functions. Osteopaths are highly trained professionals who are well known for their expertise in the evaluation, diagnosis and management of the entire musculoskeletal system and its relationship with other systems in the body and have statutory regulation with the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC). Osteopaths believe everyone can benefit from a tailored, whole-person approach to health. Over 30,000 people every day visit an osteopath suffering from a variety of conditions including neck or back pain, joint or muscular pain, sports injuries, recurring headaches and more. Many patients are pregnant mothers, unsettled children, or those with work strain, or pain and stiffness related to advancing years. 

The Institute of Osteopathy (iO) represents the profession with the statutory regulator, NHS England and other key stakeholders, and working closely with the profession’s main institutions in education and research, and local and national practitioner groups. The iO has a membership of 3,600, around 70% of UK based regulated osteopaths. Over 90% of the profession work in small to medium private practices, with an estimated 8-10% working in the NHS or major private providers to the NHS. The iO is also strongly engaged with the profession internationally, with board representation on the European and global umbrella bodies for osteopathic professional associations.

Our Mission

We support, unite, develop and promote the osteopathic profession, for the improvement of patient care.

Our Vision

To see osteopathy grow and thrive – universally recognised and accessible to all.

Our Strategic Plan

We will continue the successful programmes started during the 2018-23 strategic plan, as these are essential to inform how we address the newly emergent strategic priorities detailed below. The new priorities will inform these existing programmes, in order to ensure their alignment and integration, so as to maximise their collective value and impact:

i. Public awareness and recognition.

ii. Professional recognition via NHS engagement.

iii. Building member value.

iv. Organisational coherence.

Our current Five Year Strategic Plan 2023-28 lays out the strategic objectives and planned actions around growing the osteopathic workforce and the new Strategic Themes will be to:

i. Grow access to education by opening up student recruitment outside of the concentration in the South and West of the UK.

ii. Support and develop the business model for independent practice to lower practitioner isolation, improve business and management skills and practices, and provide more career choice and opportunities for personal development.

iii. Strengthen the profession’s identity, develop a career development framework for practitioners, and develop an overall Workforce and Education Strategic Plan, which will provide clarity around career development opportunities and thereby support recruitment and retention.

Over the next five years we therefore look to:

i. Continue to grow iO membership as we develop more services.

ii. Develop opportunities for new schools for preregistration training.

iii. See higher student volumes and improve retention of practitioners in the workforce.

iv. Implement a profession wide, practical and respected professional development framework which knits together the opportunities across the breadth of career and clinical choice.

v. Grow public understanding of osteopaths.

vi. Grow professional recognition of osteopaths with expanded AHP status and more collaboration with NHS and other professions.

We will require and will apply additional matched funding from the Osteopathic Foundation. This will ensure that we have adequate resources to support and enable education development for the profession.

You can also view our latest Annual Report here.

Our Work

Support and representation

Central to the iO’s purpose is the support of our members. We provide a range of services, resources and best practice advice in clinical development, business practice and engagement opportunities, that support our members to provide high-quality healthcare services. We actively represent the views of the profession, listening and engaging with members on key issues and developments. The iO team networks extensively with osteopathic groups at both a regional and national level and hosts multiple live and virtual networking events.

Collaboration

We work closely with all Higher Educational Institutions providing osteopathic degrees, post-graduate training providers, the regulator and other key osteopathic stakeholder organisations. The iO holds stewardship of the charity the Osteopathic Foundation, and invests in the National Council of Osteopathic Research.

Engaging with healthcare to improve access

We believe that osteopaths can provide expertise and resource to overstretched NHS services. With these ever-increasing demands in mind, we are working with NHS England to engage NHS trusts, commissioners and other allied healthcare professionals to improve access to care and identify innovative service reforms.

Working in partnership to inform Health

The iO values collaboration and partnership, we work with other healthcare professions, healthcare agencies and patient groups with the aim of improving the health of the public and raising awareness of health-related issues. Our health campaigns encourage osteopaths to inform, educate and discuss key health messages with their patients, as well as directly with members of the public.

Driving development in the profession

The iO facilitates the development of the profession by uniting and collaborating with major osteopathic stakeholders. We coordinate the work of the Osteopathic Development Group (ODG), a forum that brings together all the major educational, regulatory and research osteopathic organisations for the long-term development of the osteopathic profession for the benefit of individual osteopaths, the public and the profession as a whole. We also work with external organisations such as the Council of Deans of Health, the College of Medicine, and the NHS England Workforce, Training and Education Directorate to open up opportunities for the profession.

Our Governance

The iO is governed by a non-executive Council and a series of advisory committees, who set the strategic direction for the organisation and ensure robust process and governance of its operations.

The Executive is employed to advise Council and the Committees, operate the organisation and deliver the strategic and annual business plans agreed by Council. The iO’s Executive team are the management and administrative task force behind the Institute. The members’ welfare and the interests of the osteopathic profession in supporting the public’s health and wellbeing are at the core of everything they do.

The Council is responsible for representing the membership’s views and interests and setting the strategic direction and budget for the iO. It is made up of six practising osteopaths, voted for by the iO’s Membership and three lay members, appointed by Council for their specialist skills. There are also two Council roles reserved for representatives from the education sector, and the Chief Executive as an ex officio member. The term of office is three years, and two consecutive terms may be served. Members are elected or appointed at the Annual General Meeting. The Council meets four times a year and iO Members are welcome to join and observe by prior arrangement.

A cross-professional group of healthcare professionals, the Policy & Standards Committee oversees the external relationships of the iO, it reviews the strategies and policies of the Institute to ensure that they are practical and in line with the aims of the iO and the profession.

The Audit and Risk Committee has oversight of the iO’s financial performance and operational effectiveness, it ensures that the financial and risk management processes of the iO are robust and effective.

The Remuneration Committee oversees the remuneration of the Executive and works to ensure that reward processes are appropriate and affordable.

The Appointments Committee is an independent panel who ensures appropriate processes and governance in the appointment, election and performance of iO non–executives.

The Student Committee is formed of student representatives from each of the undergraduate institutions providing Osteopathic degrees. They meet to collaborate across the colleges and provide a student voice to the plans and activities of the iO.

The Osteopathic Foundation (the oF) is a charitable trust set up to advance osteopathic practice for the benefit of the public’s health. It funds education and research projects and promotes productive relationships both within and outside of the profession. It receives no government funding and relies heavily on donations from the members of the public and the profession.