Chaperones, Level 1

What it covers

What a chaperone is for, and why an intimate examination is wider than breasts, genitals and rectum. How reception and clinicians offer one, who may act as a chaperone, and where they stand and what they watch for. What goes in the record, what happens when a patient declines or nobody is free, and how the same rules reach video calls, photos and home visits.

Who it is for

Everyone who works in the practice: reception and administration, healthcare assistants, nurses, pharmacists, practice managers, GPs and trainees, whether you offer a chaperone or may be asked to be one.

By the end you will be able to

• Explain what a chaperone is for, and what counts as an intimate examination.
• Offer a chaperone from booking onwards, and respond to a preference about who.
• Say who can act as a chaperone, where they stand and what they watch for.
• Record the offer, the answer, and the chaperone's name and role every time.
• Know what happens when a patient declines, nobody is free, or care is remote.
• Raise a concern about an examination, in the room or afterwards.

Modules

1. Why and when we offer one
2. Acting as a chaperone
3. Records and harder situations

Your practice's own chaperone policy sets the local detail. Only staff trained for the role act as chaperones. The GMC says a relative or friend is not a trained impartial observer, so would not usually be a suitable chaperone, and NHS England says a family member does not replace one.

Content mapped to GMC guidance on intimate examinations and chaperones (2024 edition), CQC GP mythbuster 15 and NHS England's Improving chaperoning practice in the NHS (2025). Law named: No single statute applies. The standard is GMC guidance on intimate examinations and chaperones (2024) and CQC GP mythbuster 15..

Sources

• Intimate examinations and chaperones, paragraphs 1 to 23 (General Medical Council, in effect 30 January 2024, updated 13 December 2024; read from the web archive copy of 14 January 2026 because the site refuses automated fetches)
• GP mythbuster 15: Chaperones (Care Quality Commission, last updated 20 August 2024)
• Improving chaperoning practice in the NHS: key principles and guidance, PRN02280_ii (NHS England, 5 December 2025)
• Key principles for intimate clinical assessments undertaken remotely in response to COVID-19, version 1 (NHS England and NHS Improvement, July 2020)
• Remote consulting, Good practice guidelines for GP electronic patient records (NHS England, updated 28 March 2025)
• Genital examination in women: a resource for skills development and assessment, chaperones section (Royal College of Nursing, November 2023)
• Equality Act 2010, section 4: the protected characteristics
• Equality Act 2010, section 20: duty to make adjustments
• Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 1: the principles
• Adoption of the national Freedom to Speak Up policy and access to a guardian for primary care workers (NHS England, 2 October 2024)
• Report a concern if you are a member of staff (Care Quality Commission)

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GPAtlas is not accredited, verified or endorsed by Skills for Health or NHS England. Acceptance of this training is at the discretion of your employer, who remains responsible for confirming it meets local requirements. Your employer may require more frequent refreshers than the guidance period; the practice's own policy applies. Some pictures and films in our courses, and the film narration, are made with AI tools. We check every one for accuracy before we publish it.