European Federation of Osteopaths

FORE held its 8th meeting in July, bringing together 25 representatives from osteopathic organisations across Europe. Held in Stockholm during the Swedish Presidency of the EU, a key aim of this meeting was to consider proposals developed by the Secretariat, current provided by the General Osteopathic Council, to formalise the governance, membership and funding structure of FORE and to agree a draft strategic plan for the next 3 years.
Following a lengthy debate, it was agreed that membership of FORE should be organisation-based, but voting would be by country. To date, FORE has had no formal structure and decisions have been based on a consensus. Proposals on funding mechanisms, categories of full and associate membership and the principle of appointing a Chair were all referred back to the respective organisations for consideration at the next meeting of FORE, expected in November. A draft strategic plan received wide support, as well as the move towards increased coooperation and communication with the European Federation of Osteopaths, representatives of which were also in attendance.
Formalising European osteopathic standards
FORE considered the potential authorisation of its Framework documents on standards of osteopathic education, training and practice through adoption by national standadisation agencies. A representative from the European Committee of Standardisation (CEN) gave an informative presentation on the process of developing European standards, which although would not override national law, would provide some benchmark standard in those Member States without regulation - currently the majority of EU countries. As some French osteopathic organisations had already started work on developing a national standard through their national standardisation agency, they were asked to consider whether they would stop this project in favour of developing European standards. It was agreed that our French colleagues would need to confirm with CEN and the FORE Secretariat as soon as possible how they wished to move forward.Representatives from the European Federation of Osteopaths (EFO) and Forum for Osteopathic Regulation in Europe (FORE) met in Brussels on 20 May. The third event of its kind, this gathering sought to ensure that both bodies were aware of the other's activities and to identify opportunities for joint activity to promote osteopathic standards at a European level.
Originally established in 1992 as the European Register of Osteopaths, the EFO is the EU-level professional body for osteopaths, whilst the focus of FORE is on regulatory matters, in particular the promotion of osteopathic standards, routine exchange of information between registering bodies across Europe and the spread of regulation of osteopathy as autonomous healthcare profession. Key items on the agenda include the proposed launch of standards agreed by FORE and the EFO on osteopathic education, training and practice in November 2009 and the development of a European scope of osteopathic practice.
Launch reception
This high level political event, to be held in London or Brussels, will target national and EU policy makers, patients and professional representatives with the aim of sharing information about current osteopathic care in Europe, promoting European standards of osteopathy and encouraging and assisting in the development of regulation of the profession across Europe.
European scope of osteopathic practice A paper (based on the British Osteopathic Association’s Common Language Project, Quality Assurance Agency’s Osteopathy Benchmark Statement and GOsC’s draft Osteopathic Practice Framework) was presented by the EFO to debate the worth of a scope of practice at a European level, particularly in light of challenges made by other professions seeking osteopathic practice rights in some European countries. It was agreed there was a need to have a clear understanding of what osteopathy was but that this would need to reflect different approaches and accommodate the needs of different target audiences. A working group of representatives from the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, France, Ireland and the UK was appointed to take this project forward. The next joint meeting between the EFO and FORE will take place in London in September 2009.