S.I. No. 472/2014 - Speech and Language Therapists Registration Board Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics Bye-law 2014.

1. Identify the problem and gather as much information as you can. Ask yourself if it is an ethical, professional, clinical or legal problem.

2. Review the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics and identify the relevant parts. Check other professional guidelines such as those of the Health Service Executive or government departments as well as any relevant legislation. Discuss the issue with the ethics committee in your place of work or region for advice.

3. Discuss the issue with professional colleagues.

4. Consider asking your professional body for advice.

5. Evaluate the rights, responsibilities and welfare of everyone affected. Remember that your first obligation is to the service user.

6. Keep notes at each stage of the process.

7. Consider different solutions and decisions.

8. Evaluate and document the potential consequences of each option.

9. Choose the best solution or decision based on your professional judgement.

10. Put the solution or decision into practice, informing all the people affected.

11. Remember that you are responsible, as an autonomous practitioner, for the consequences of the solution or decision that you choose.

As well as the guidelines above there are websites which have examples of ethical frameworks that may be applied to assist in decision making. These can be found at

http://bma.org.uk/practical-support-at-work/ethics/medical-students-ethics-tool-kit/approaching-an-ethical-dilemma

http://www.ukcen.net/uploads/docs/education_resources/ethox_app.pdf

http://www.ukcen.net/uploads/docs/education_resources/Ethox_Structure_Flowchart.pdf

Bibliography

Advance Healthcare Decisions Act 2012

An Bord Altranais (2000) The Code of Professional Conduct for each Nurse and Midwife, Dublin: An Bord Altranais.

AOTI Code of Ethics (2006). Available at

http://www.aoti.ie/page.aspx-contentid=859

Beauchamp, T. & Childress, JF (2009) Principles of Biomedical Ethics, New York, Oxford University Press, Inc.

Child Care Act 1991

Children First Bill 2012

Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2011

Competition Act 2002

Competition (Amendment) Act 2006

Data Protection Act 1988

Data Protection (Amendment) Act 2003

Disability Act 2005

Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004

Ethics in Public Office Act 1995

Employment Equality Act 1998

Freedom of Information Act 1997

Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 2003

Health and Social Care Professionals Council, 2010. Framework Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. [pdf] Dublin: HSCPC. Available at

http://www.coru.ie/uploads/Framework%20Code%20of%20Professional%20Conduct%20and%20Ethics.pdf

Health Professions Council (2008) Standards of conduct, performance and ethics, London: Health Professions Council.

Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005

Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Act 2012

Health Service Executive, National Consent Policy

Accessed here on 24/4/14

http://www.hse.ie/eng/about/Who/qualityandpatientsafety/National_Consent_Policy/

Health Service Executive, Open Disclosure: Communicating when things go wrong

Accessed here on 24/4/14

http://www.hse.ie/eng/about/Who/qualityandpatientsafety/nau/Open_Disclosure/opendiscFiles/opdiscpatinfoleaflet.pdf

IASLT Code of Ethics (2006). Available at

http://www.iaslt.ie/docs/public/information/IASLT%20Code%20of%20Ethics.pdf

IASLT Scope of Practice (n.d). Available at;

http://www.iaslt.ie/docs/members/policy/IASLT%20Scope%20of%20Practice%20.pdf

IASLT Standards of Practice for Speech and Language Therapists on the Management of Dysphagia (2012). Available at

http://www.iaslt.ie/docs/members/policy/IASLT%20Scope%20of%20Practice%20.pdf

Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (2010) Rules of Professional Conduct Incorporating Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Professional Behaviour, Dublin: Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists.

Jackson, E. (2010) Medical Law: Text, Cases, and Materials, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871

Madden, D. (2002) Medicine, Ethics and the Law, West Sussex, Butterworths (Ireland) Ltd.

Mental Capacity Bill 2012

Medical Council (2004) A Guide to Ethical Conduct and Behaviour, Dublin: Medical Council.

Medical Council (2009) A Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners, Dublin: Medical Council.

Protected Disclosures of Information provisions of the

Health Act 2004

(as amended by the

Health Act 2007

)

Protection for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act (1998)

Social Workers Registration Board, 2011. Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Social Workers. [pdf] Dublin: SWRB. Available at

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/pdf/2011/en.si.2011.0143.pdf

Standards in Public Office Act 2001

GIVEN under the seal of the Speech and Language TherapistsRegistration Board,

14 October 2014.

HELEN SHORTT,

Chairperson, Speech and Language Therapists RegistrationBoard.

and

FINTAN REDDY,

Member, Speech and Language Therapists RegistrationBoard.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the bye-law and does not purport to be a legal interpretation).

This bye-law adopts the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics agreed by the Speech and Language Therapists Registration Board.

12. Communicate with service users, carers and other professionals

You must, when communicating with service users, carers and the families of service users, do so sensitively and effectively.

You should

co-operate and share your knowledge and expertise with colleagues and students for the benefit of service users.

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

You should

assist and advise colleagues, recently qualified registrants and students in your profession to develop the professional skills, values, courtesies, attitudes and behaviour they will need when dealing with service users, carers and staff.

14. Teach, supervise and assess students and other professionals

If you are involved, you must

supervise, teach, train, appraise and assess students in your profession and do so fairly and respectfully using agreed criteria.

You should

meet your professional obligation to supervise, teach, train and mentor other Speech and Language Therapists and other professionals in specified practice areas.

15. Supervise tasks that you give to others

You must

a. acknowledge that service users have the right to expect that the person providing assessment, intervention or treatment to them has the knowledge, skills and competence to do so;

b. only delegate to a person who you believe to have the knowledge, skills and experience to carry out the task safely and effectively, unless they are supervised by an experienced practitioner;

c. always continue to give adequate and appropriate supervision, if you delegate a task;

d. understand that you are accountable for any task you delegate to another practitioner and responsible for any task you delegate to a student or others;

e. understand that if a student or another practitioner is unwilling to carry out a task because they do not think they are capable of doing so safely and effectively, you must not force them to do so. If their refusal raises a disciplinary or training issue, you must deal with this separately. The service user must never be put at unnecessary risk.

16. Keep accurate records

You must

a. keep clear and accurate records in line with the policies and procedures set out in your workplace and the

Freedom of Information Act 1997

;

b. make sure that all records are

• complete,

• legible (if handwritten),

• identifiable as being made by you,

• dated and timed,

• prepared as soon as practicable following assessment, intervention or treatment, and

• clear and factual;

c. if you supervise students, review each student’s entries in the records and record that you have done so;

d. protect information in records against loss, damage or access by anyone who is not allowed to access them;

e. make sure that if records are updated, the information that was there before is not erased or made difficult to read;

f. hold and use records according to relevant legislation.

Records are all information collected, processed and held in manual, electronic or any other format pertaining to the service user and service user care. Records include data (within the meaning of the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003), demographics, clinical data, images, recordings, unique identification, investigation, samples, correspondence and communications relating to the service user and their care.

17. Address health and safety risks

You must

a. follow risk assessment policies and procedures to assess potential risks in the workplace and your areas of practice;

b. take any steps needed to minimise, reduce or eliminate the risks you identify;

c. inform relevant colleagues and/or departments in your workplace about the outcomes and implications of risk assessments;

d. read and understand your institution’s or department’s safety statement.

18. Report any concerns about risks to service users

You must

inform the proper authorities about any concerns you may have about risks to service user safety and quality of care.

You should

if a service user is harmed in the course of their care, speak openly and honestly to them as soon as possible about what happened, their condition and their on-going care plan.

Ethics

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

19. Demonstrate ethical awareness

You must

make sure you read and understand this Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics.

You must not

enter into any agreement or contract or accept any gift that might cause you to breach this Code.

You should

be aware of the wider need to use limited resources as efficiently and responsibly as is practicable. You have a duty to assist in the efficient and effective use of resources and to give advice on their appropriate allocation, whilst balancing your duty of care to the individual. Take particular care when ethical issues arise. (Please see Appendix A for a suggested procedure for ethical decision-making).

20. Respect the rights and dignity of people

You must

always show, through your practice and conduct, respect for the rights and dignity of all individuals. In particular you must not discriminate against a person on the basis of

• gender,

• family status,

• civil status,

• age,

• disability,

• sexual orientation,

• religion,

• ethnicity, or

• membership of the Traveller Community

as identified under the Equal Status Act as updated from time to time.

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

You must

a. carry out your duties and responsibilities in a professional and ethical way to protect the public;

b. always behave with integrity and honesty;

c. recognise that if there is a conflict of interest between the service user and the safeguarding of children or other vulnerable people, safeguarding should take precedence.

22. Undertake research in an ethical manner

You must

a. follow your employer’s procedures on research and any guidance issued by appropriate authorities;

b. submit research proposals to the relevant research ethics committees and get ethical approval before starting the research;

c. obtain informed consent from service users in line with the procedures laid down by the ethics committee;

d. treat all information gathered during the research confidentially and make sure that participants cannot be identified through their data;

e. protect and destroy data in line with relevant legislation;

f. make sure you do not distort or misuse clinical or research findings;

g. make sure that a service user’s refusal to take part in research does not influence the delivery of service to that service user in any way;

h. follow accepted guidelines in scientific journals concerning intellectual property, copyright and acknowledging the work of others.

You should

a. take part in research or support the research of others where possible;

b. disseminate or circulate the research findings widely to further the evidence base of the profession and to improve service user examination and treatment.

23. Make sure that any advertising is truthful, accurate and lawful

You should

a. make sure that any advertising is truthful, accurate and lawful;

b. avoid activities that may be construed as providing you with financial incentives or creating any conflict of interest;

c. provide full and accurate fee information to the service user or potential service user, in advance of agreeing to provide your service(

s

).

Appendix A

Suggested procedure for ethical decision-making

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

17

th October

, 2014.

The Speech and Language Therapists Registration Board, in exercise of the powers conferred on 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