Physiotherapists Registration Board Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics Bye-Law 2016.

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 497/2016
• Year: 2016

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 30th September, 2016.

The Physiotherapists Registration Board, in exercise of the powers conferred in it by section 31 of the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended), with the approval of the Health and Social Care Professionals Council, hereby makes the following bye-law:

1. This bye-law may be cited as the Physiotherapists Registration Board Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics Bye-Law 2016.

2. The Physiotherapists Registration Board hereby adopts the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics (the “Code”) contained in the schedule to this bye-law.

3. The Code is hereby incorporated by reference into, and forms part of, this bye-law.

4. This bye-law comes into operation on 30 September 2016.

SCHEDULE

Physiotherapists Registration Board

Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics

Contents

Foreword..............5

About the Code..............6

Conduct..............8

Performance..............12

Ethics..............18

Appendix A: Suggested procedure for ethical decision-making..............21

Bibliography..............22

Foreword

I am pleased to present the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Physiotherapists devised by the Physiotherapists Registration Board (PRB), CORU. The code specifies the standards of ethics, conduct and performance expected of registered physiotherapists.

The Physiotherapists Registration Board was appointed on 20 May 2014 by the Minister for Health. The Board is one of twelve registration boards to be established under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 . The twelve Boards and the Health and Social Care Professionals Council operate under the umbrella of CORU. The purpose of CORU is to protect the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct, professional education, training and competence among registrants.

In 2010, the Health and Social Care Professionals Council at CORU developed a framework code detailing common standards across its twelve constituent boards. The framework was reviewed and updated in 2013. The Physiotherapists Registration Board, made up of both lay members and representatives of the profession, have carefully adapted the framework with additional assistance from experts external to the Board, public consultation and international best practice.

This Code outlines the standards of ethical behaviour and conduct that the public expects from physiotherapists. Each year registrants will be asked to pledge that they comply with the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. It is essential that all registrants read, understand and meet the standards set out in this Code. Failure to meet the standards could result in a complaint of professional misconduct being made about the registrant. Under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 , professional misconduct is defined as any act, omission or pattern of conduct of the registrant which is a breach of the code.

As the goal of the PRB is to protect the public by fostering high standards of professional conduct, education, training and competence among registrants, adopting this Code is a major milestone in this process. As the profession develops, the PRB is committed to continually reviewing these standards, in doing so, ensuring that they remain both relevant and comprehensive. We expect that all physiotherapists will comply with these standards and that the consistent application of these standards will benefit physiotherapists as practitioners and the public as service users. We look forward to working with physiotherapists, their employers and service users in realising such benefits through developments in the statutory registration process.

Anne Horgan

Chairperson

Physiotherapists Registration Board

September 2016

About the Code

As a registrant you must comply with this Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. It is recognised that ethical decision-making presents challenges and it is suggested that the paradigm at Appendix A should be consulted.

Registrants must be aware that a breach or breaches of this Code could be held to be professional misconduct and could result in a disciplinary sanction being imposed following a fitness to practise inquiry.

In this document:

• ‘you must’ is used as an overriding principle or duty;

• ‘you should’ is used where the principle or duty may not apply in all cases or where there are factors outside your control affecting your ability to comply;

• the term “service users” includes service users, patients, clients and anyone else who uses your service.

Below is a summary of your responsibilities as a registrant grouped into three categories: conduct, performance and ethics.

Conduct

1. Act in the best interests of service users.

2. Respect the confidentiality of service users.

3. Maintain high standards of personal conduct.

4. Provide information about conduct and competence.

Performance

5. Address health issues related to your fitness to practise.

6. Obey laws and regulations.

7. Act within the limits of your knowledge, skills, competence and experience.

8. Keep your professional knowledge, skills and competence up to date.

9. Get informed consent from service users.

10. Communicate with service users, carers and other professionals.

11. Assist and advise colleagues, recently qualified registrants and students.

12. Teach, supervise and assess students and other professionals.

13. Supervise tasks that you give to others.

14. Keep accurate records.

15. Address health and safety risks.

16. Address risks to service users.

Ethics

17. Demonstrate ethical awareness.

18. Respect the rights and dignity of people.

19. Carry out your duties in a professional and ethical way.

20. Undertake research in an ethical manner.

21. Make sure that advertising is truthful, accurate and lawful.

Conduct

You must always keep a high standard of conduct. Your duties are to:

1. Act in the best interests of service users

You are responsible for acting in the best interests of your service user.

1.1 You must:

a. treat service users as individuals;

b. respect the diversity, different cultures and values of service users;

c. respect and, where appropriate, speak out on behalf of service users and carers;

d. support the rights of service users to take part in all aspects of the service provided;

e. respect the rights of service users to make informed choices about the service they receive;

f. recognise the right of service users to have their physical modesty protected;

g. do nothing and allow nothing to be done that might put the health or safety of a service user at risk;

h. when working in a team, be responsible for:

• your own professional conduct,

• any service or professional advice you give,

• your own failure to act,

• any appropriate tasks you delegate, and

• any tasks delegated to you;

i. protect service users if you believe they are threatened by a colleague’s conduct, performance or health. Service user safety must always come before personal and professional loyalties;

j. talk to a suitable professional colleague if you become aware of any situation that puts a service user at risk.

1.2 You must not:

a. direct those entitled to public services to private practice for reasons of personal or commercial benefit;

b. accept inducements, payment, gifts or benefits that could be reasonably perceived as affecting your professional judgement.

2. Respect the confidentiality of service users

2.1 You must:

a. treat information about service users as confidential and use it only for the purpose for which it was given;

b. check that people who ask for information are entitled to it;

c. always follow ‘best practice’, employer guidelines and data protection laws when handling confidential service user information. Stay up to date with best practice developments;

d. be aware that confidentiality is not absolute and familiarise yourself with the circumstances in which a breach of confidentiality is appropriate and justifiable;

e. make sure, where you need to share service user information with a relevant colleague to give safe effective care, that the colleague knows that the information must be kept confidential;

f. be conscious of your need to use social media and social networking in a responsible way, in particular, to avoid any breach of your obligations in the Code such as confidentiality and use of records and information under Clause 14.

2.2 You must not:

a. give personal or confidential service user information to anyone, except if the law or your professional practice obligations requires you to do so.

2.3 You should:

a. if a service user is harmed as a result of the treatment you are providing, speak openly and honestly to them as soon as possible about what has occurred;

b. speak openly and honestly to them if anything needs to be done and any consequent changes that need to be made to their ongoing care plan.

3. Maintain high standards of personal conduct

3.1 You must:

a. work openly and co-operatively with colleagues;

b. respect the roles and expertise of other health and social care professionals and work in partnership with them;

c. conduct yourself personally in a manner that enhances the public confidence in you and in your profession.

3.2 You must not:

a. harm or abuse service users, carers or colleagues;

b. neglect service users, carers or colleagues;

c. exploit service users, carers or colleagues in any way;

d. discriminate against service users, carers or colleagues in any way;

e. condone discrimination by service users, carers or colleagues;

f. form inappropriate personal relationships with service users;

g. put yourself or others at unnecessary risk;

h. behave in a way that would call into question your suitability to work in health...