Guidance on good practice

The GMC has a statutory role to provide guidance to doctors on medical ethics.

Our core piece of guidance is Good Medical Practice (2006). This sets out the principles and values on which good practice is founded.

Find out how Good Medical Practice has become a pivotal reference point in the current structures and processes for healthcare regulation, service provision and inspection in Operationalising Good Medical Practice.

Good Medical Practice was recently reviewed. You can read more about the review in the news and consultations section of this website.

• We also publish supplementary ethical guidance which provides more detail on how to comply with the principles in Good Medical Practice.
• You can search all our current ethical guidance using our A-Z search function.
• The news and consultations page contains information about our work, including new guidance development and reviews of existing guidance.
• You can read all the ethical guidance which is no longer current in the Archive section.
• You can give us your feedback on these pages, including the online format of Good Medical Practice.

Guidance in other areas of the GMC’s Work

• The education pages provide guidance on education and training.
• The concerns about doctors pages contain guidance on how members of the public and others can act on concerns about doctors.
• For guidance on how to register as a doctor and on revalidation see the medical register.
• The publications section of the site contains corporate publications like the Annual Report and the Valuing Diversity Resource guides.