Ethics Guidance for Occupational Health Practice 9th Edition - Book - Page 20
The individual occupational health professional
Professional codes of conduct, licensing and registration
2.05. The personal qualities and values that occupational health professionals should
display are often, but not always, set out by a professional body. Such codes
will usually cover generalisable behaviours, including personal probity and
interactions with patients. It is expected that each occupational health
professional will be familiar and fully compliant with their respective
professional code.
2.06. Doctors and nurses are subject to formal revalidation processes. Allied health
professionals regulated by the HCPC must meet continuing professional
development requirements and may be subject to audit. Effective clinical
governance will need to support these processes.
2.07. There is good concordance between the codes of conduct produced by the
major healthcare professions. Differences in interpretation may occur between
people coming from different backgrounds, especially where there are
significant deviations in cultural attitudes and/or legislative frameworks. This
can be an issue for the growing number of occupational health professionals
that operate trans-nationally. In such circumstances, it is expected that every
effort will be made to discuss any disagreements from a position of mutual
respect. The goal will be to agree a common approach that satisfies the needs
of the health professionals concerned, and most importantly, those to whom
they are providing care. Ultimately, all occupational health professionals are
accountable for their own actions and must make their own adequately
informed judgement about how to act where irreconcilable differences occur.
2.08. Occupational health professionals may work alongside safety professionals,
occupational hygienists and others who do not have a clinical background.
Sharing information with these non-clinical colleagues can generate substantial
health benefits and failure to do so may constitute a culpable act of omission.
Nonetheless, care must be taken to appropriately safeguard clinical information
when working with groups that do not have a professional duty of
confidentiality.
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