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Acceptable standards of professional conduct for our student and chartered members are given in our Rules of Professional Conduct. Standards for our associate members are given in an equivalent Code of Conduct. We also publish Standards of Physiotherapy Practice.

We are the professional body representing physiotherapists and those associate members whose role supports the work of physiotherapists. Both the Rules and Code are given in outline form below. Members can login and use the links on this page to refer to the full text for both documents.

Charting the Future

We are currently working on a project, called Charting the Future, to prepare the physiotherapy profession for the future. As part of this we are developing a contemporary professional and ethical code to underpin all our members’ future physiotherapy practice and conduct. This will supersede the existing Rules of Professional Conduct, Core Standards of Physiotherapy Practice and the Assistants’ Code of Conduct.

Get involved yourself: see more information about Charting the Future on this website.

Rules of Professional Conduct for chartered physiotherapists

Rule 1 Scope of practice	Chartered physiotherapists shall only practice to the extent that they have established, maintained and developed their ability to work safely and competently and shall ensure that they have appropriate professional liability cover for that practice.
Rule 2 Relationships with patients	Chartered physiotherapists shall respect and uphold the rights,dignity and individual sensibilities of every patient.
Rule 3 Confidentiality	Chartered physiotherapists shall ensure the confidentiality and security of information acquired in a professional capacity.
Rule 4 Relationships with professional staff and carers	Chartered physiotherapists shall communicate and cooperate with professional staff and other carers in the interests, and with the consent of their patient; and shall avoid inappropriate criticism of any of them.
Rule 5 Duty to report	Chartered physiotherapists have a duty to report, to an appropriate authority, circumstances which may put patients or others at risk.
Rule 6 Advertising	Chartered physiotherapists shall ensure that advertising in respect of their professional activities is accurate and professionally restrained.
Rule 7 Sales of services and goods	Chartered physiotherapists shall not sell, supply, endorse or promote the sale of services or goods in ways which exploit the professional relationship with their patient.
Rule 8 Personal and professional standards	Chartered physiotherapists shall adhere at all times to personal and professional standards which reflect credit on the profession; behaviour, approach and dress should not cause offence to the patient and carer.

CSP members can download the full Rules of Professional Conduct

Code of Conduct for associate members

Rule 1 Scope of practice	Physiotherapy assistants shall only practice to the extent that they have established, maintained and developed their ability to work safely and competently to the tasks delegated to them by Chartered physiotherapists.
Rule 2 Relationships with physiotherapists	Physiotherapy assistants shall report to the delegating physiotherapist at regular intervals. Physiotherapists equally have a duty to provide appropriate support and development to assistants working under their supervision.
Rule 3 Relationships with patients	Physiotherapy assistants shall respect and uphold the rights, dignity and individual sensibilities of every patient.
Rule 4 Confidentiality	Physiotherapy assistants shall ensure the confidentiality and security of information acquired in a professional capacity.
Rule 5 Relationships with professional staff and carers	Physiotherapy assistants shall communicate and cooperate with other health and allied professionals and all others caring for the patient in the interests, and with the consent of, the patient and shall avoid inappropriate criticism of any of them.
Rule 6 Duty to report	Physiotherapy assistants have a duty to report, to an appropriate authority, circumstances which may put patients or others at risk.
Rule 7 Advertising	Physiotherapy assistants are forbidden to advertise their services as individuals, although advertising of a physiotherapy service that includes assistant posts is acceptable
Rule 8 Sales of services and goods	Physiotherapy assistants shall not sell, supply, endorse or promote the sale of goods or services in ways which exploit their relationship with individual patients.
Rule 9 Standards of conduct	Physiotherapy assistants should act at all times in a professional manner which reflects in a creditable way on the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

CSP members can download the full Assistants Code of Conduct

Standards

Introduction

The latest edition of the Standards of Physiotherapy Practice (SOPP) was published in 2005 after extensive consultation with members. These standards:

• make an important contribution to the excellence and consistency in clinical practice through Clinical Governance
• reflect all practice areas, settings and specialities
• set the national standards against which individuals and services can compare their performance

What are the Standards of Practice?

A collection of documents describing the professional concensus on the practise of physiotherapy for members of the CSP working in any occupational setting. The Standards reflect the collective judgement of the profession at a given point in time.

Core standards of Physiotherapy Practice

These provide a framework within which all physiotherapists and associate members are required to practise. They provide the overarching framework within which CIOG’s may chose to give specialty specific information with which to support the core standards: view the core standards publication record.

Service Standards of Physiotherapy Practice

These describe aspects of the physiotherapy service for which the organisation is responsible in order to maintain the safety and quality of services for staff and patients. These standards apply to all physiotherapy settings although some standards may not be relevant in some settings: view the service standards publication record.

Clinical audit tools

The CSP clinical audit tools provide a template for members to audit both the core and service standards and so identify areas of good practice and also areas for development work

The Standards of Practice documents are supported by various CSP information and policy papers that are produced and updated at regular intervals to ensure, to give more detailed guidance on aspects of practice covered in the Standards of Practice.