Aipedia: Osteopaths and chiropractors

AI for osteopaths and chiropractors: the rules and your indemnity cover

Aipedia, by the Apex broking team · Last reviewed 2026-10-30

Osteopaths and chiropractors can use AI tools, but they stay personally responsible for every clinical decision those tools touch. Both professions must hold statutory indemnity of at least £5m in the aggregate, so how that cover treats AI-assisted work matters to every registrant.

Part of: AI in osteopaths and chiropractors

In short

Osteopaths and chiropractors are starting to use AI for case notes, intake questionnaires, posture and gait assessment, imaging summaries, exercise apps, chatbots and marketing. The General Osteopathic Council has published interim AI guidance: osteopaths remain responsible for clinical decisions, must understand the tools they use, must be open with patients and must protect confidential data. It also tells osteopaths to check whether their insurer needs a declaration about AI use. The General Chiropractic Council has no AI-specific guidance. Both professions must hold statutory cover of at least £5m in the aggregate, including run-off and product liability.

How osteopaths and chiropractors use AI

Most AI in manual therapy practice is administrative or assistive rather than diagnostic. Common uses include:

Notes and letters: transcription tools that listen to a consultation and draft case notes, and generative AI chatbots that draft GP referral letters, discharge summaries and patient information.
Assessment aids: phone or camera apps that score posture and gait, and wearable data that a patient brings in from a fitness tracker. The GOsC lists wearable technology as one of the ways AI enters practice.
Screening and planning: online intake forms that flag possible red flags, tools that summarise radiology reports, and software that suggests treatment plans or tracks outcome scores.
Front of house: website chatbots that answer questions and book appointments, and AI-written website copy and social media posts.

Each of these sits on top of the same professional duties. The tool can draft, sort or suggest; the registered practitioner decides.

What the regulators say

The GOsC interim guidance on artificial intelligence (published by August 2025 and last updated 12 June 2026) is described as interim because of the pace of change, and it does not add new standards. It explains how the Osteopathic Practice Standards (OPS) already apply. Its key points:

Responsibility for AI use cannot be outsourced to the tool, its developer or an employer.
Check whether a tool needs approval from the MHRA as a medical device.
Understand a tool well enough to use it safely and explain it to patients, and check output for hallucinations and bias.
Discuss AI use in plain language, with detail proportionate to risk; reference transcription software in your privacy notice; give patients a way to raise concerns.
Comply with UK GDPR; sharing confidential data with free public AI tools would likely breach confidentiality; register with the ICO.
Check whether your insurer requires a specific declaration about AI use in clinical practice.

The General Chiropractic Council has not published AI-specific guidance for chiropractors. Its published AI material is a joint statement on AI in health and care professional education (February 2026), signed with five other regulators. On 17 September 2026 both councils joined the other PSA-overseen regulators in a joint statement of intent to develop shared high-level AI principles. For the detail, see GOsC and GCC on AI.

The main risks

The main risks for practitioners are:

Inaccurate records: a transcription tool mishears or invents a finding, and the note is signed off unchecked.
Missed serious pathology: an intake tool or report summary plays down a red flag and referral is delayed.
Treatment driven by a score: a posture or gait app overstates a problem and the patient is treated, or charged, for it.
Consent gaps: generic AI-drafted consent forms leave out risks that matter to a particular patient.
Data breaches: patient details pasted into a free public tool, or a chatbot that collects health data without a lawful basis.
Misleading marketing: AI-written content that makes claims the practitioner cannot support.

No GOsC or GCC fitness to practise decision, and no UK court decision, turning on AI use has been identified so far. That does not mean the risks are theoretical; it means the first cases have not been decided.

The PI position

Indemnity is a legal condition of registration for both professions. The GOsC indemnity rules (SI 2015/693) and the GCC indemnity rules (SI 2015/1511) prescribe the same five risks: negligent acts, errors or omissions in professional services; public and product liability; liability for employees, partners, associates, co-directors and agents; claimants' legal costs; and defence costs. Both set a minimum of £5,000,000 in the aggregate and require run-off after you stop practising or change provider.

Neither set of rules mentions AI. A claim arising from AI-assisted treatment is usually treated as a claim about your professional services, subject to the policy terms. The open questions are practical: whether your insurer wants AI use declared, whether any technology or data exclusion applies, and whether one aggregate limit is enough if several claims arise from one flawed tool. The GCC also requires chiropractic treatment to be specifically mentioned in the policy. See osteopaths' PI and the GOsC rules and chiropractors' PI and the GCC rules.

Practical steps

A practice can start with these steps:

List every AI tool used in the practice, including free ones.
Check each for MHRA status, data location and whether patient data trains the model.
Update your privacy notice and consent process.
Check records and letters before they are signed or sent.
Ask your insurer or broker whether AI use needs to be declared, and keep a note of the answer. What to document about AI use sets out a record you can keep.

Aipedia guides for osteopaths and chiropractors

Each guide below covers one task or issue in more depth:

GOsC and GCC on AI: what practitioners must do: the GOsC interim guidance, the OPS standards it maps to, the GCC position and the 2026 joint statements.
AI scribes and case notes in MSK clinics: transcription tools in the treatment room, the privacy-notice rule and checking notes before you sign them off.
AI posture and gait analysis in clinic: camera and app-based assessment, accuracy and bias, and claims where a score drives the wrong treatment.
Using AI to read X-ray and MRI reports: summarising radiology reports, staying within competence and acting on findings the tool plays down.
AI red-flag screening and triage: intake questionnaires for cauda equina, fracture and other serious pathology, and when to send a patient elsewhere.
AI home exercise apps for patients: recommending or supplying exercise apps, unsupervised injury and the product liability element of the rules.
Wearables and AI movement reports: using patient tracker data, data protection, reliability and recording how the data shaped care.
AI chatbots and online booking for clinics: website bots that answer symptom questions, informal advice risk and clinic versus practitioner liability.
AI-written marketing and treatment claims: generated web and social content, unsupported health claims and the honesty standard.
AI-drafted consent forms and patient leaflets: valid consent under OPS A4, missing material risks and why template wording gets scrutinised in claims.
AI treatment planning and outcome tracking: AI suggestions for plans and outcome measures, and showing the plan was yours and individualised.
AI-drafted referral letters to GPs: accuracy, confidentiality and delays in onward care when a letter is generated rather than written.
AI tools in multi-practitioner clinics: clinic-wide tools, associates and employees, clinic AI policies and who holds which cover.
Does osteopath and chiropractor PI cover AI?: how the £5m aggregate, run-off and product liability elements respond, and wording to check.
Telling patients you use AI: consent and privacy: plain-language disclosure, privacy notices, ICO registration and a route for patient concerns.

How Apex helps

Apex arranges PI for osteopaths, chiropractors and multi-disciplinary clinics. A broker checks your policy against the statutory minimum terms and asks how it treats AI-assisted work; see our PI guide for manual therapists or contact us.

Sources

Frequently asked

Can osteopaths and chiropractors use AI in clinical practice?

Yes. Neither council bans it. The GOsC interim guidance says osteopaths remain responsible for clinical decisions, must understand the tool, must be open with patients and must protect confidential data. The GCC has not issued AI guidance, so its existing Code applies as it does to any other part of practice.

Does the statutory £5m indemnity cover mistakes made with AI?

The rules do not mention AI, and a claim about AI-assisted treatment is usually handled as a claim about your professional services. Whether a particular policy responds depends on its wording, any exclusions and whether you made any declaration your insurer asked for.

Do I need to tell my insurer I use AI?

The GOsC tells osteopaths to check whether their insurer requires a specific declaration about AI use in clinical practice. Chiropractors would be prudent to ask the same question. Answer proposal questions accurately and keep a record of what you told the insurer.

Has anyone been disciplined for AI use?

No GOsC or GCC fitness to practise decision turning on AI use has been identified. Concerns would be judged against existing standards on competence, consent, records and confidentiality, which apply whether or not a tool was involved.

Check your PI covers how you use AI

Tell us about your firm and the work you do. A broker will review how your current PI treats AI-assisted work, or arrange new cover. No fee for a quote. Or call 0117 325 0027.

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Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information about how AI is used in the profession and how insurance may respond. It is not legal, regulatory or insurance advice on your circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.