Making your updated standards easier to navigate

  1. Summary
  2. Creating respectful fair and compassionate workplaces
  3. Promoting patient centred care
  4. Helping to tackle discrimination
  1. Championing fair and inclusive leadership
  2. Supporting continuity of care and safe delegation
  3. Making your updated standards easier to navigate

On a practical level, we’ve made it easier for you to find the information you're looking for. We’ve restructured the standards, and made sure the title of each section clearly reflects the content in it. The four sections, known as domains, are:

  • Knowledge, skills and development
  • Patients, partnership and communication
  • Colleagues, culture and safety
  • Trust and professionalism.

There are also more descriptive subheadings throughout. These are all listed in the contents, so you can jump straight to the relevant content.

Clearer definitions of ‘must’ and ‘should’

We’ve updated the definitions of ‘must’ and ‘should’, to make sure the differences between the two terms are clear:

  • ‘You must’ is used for a legal or ethical duty you’re expected to meet, or be able to justify why you didn’t.
  • ‘You should’ is used for duties or principles that either: may not apply to you or to the situation you’re currently in, or you may not be able to comply with because of factors outside your control.

Further reading

You can read through all of the changes in Good medical practice 2024 - what's new in each domain?

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