S.I. No. 452/2015 - Optical Registration Board Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Optometrists Bye-Law 2015.

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 too such as those of the Health Service Executive or government departments as well as any relevant legislation.

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 patient.

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.

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GIVEN under the seal of the Optical Registration Board,

21 October 2015.

PETER McGRATH,

Chairperson, Optical Registration Board.

and

OWEN BLEE,

Member, Optical Registration Board.

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 for Optometrists agreed by the Optical Registration Board.

12. Teach, supervise and assess students and other professionals

If you are involved in supervising, teaching, training, appraising and assessing students in your profession or other professions, you must

a. do so fairly and respectfully using agreed criteria.

You should

a. meet your professional obligation to teach, train and mentor other Optometrists and other healthcare professionals in specified practice areas.

13. Supervise tasks that you give to others

You must

a. acknowledge that patients have the right to assume that the person providing assessment, management, referral 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;

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, practice support staff 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 patient must never be put at unnecessary risk.

You must not

ask anyone to do anything which is outside their knowledge, skills and experience unless they are supervised by a practitioner with competence in the relevant area.

14. Keep accurate records

You must

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

b. make sure that all records are

• complete,

• legible (if handwritten),

• identifiable as being made by you,

• dated,

• timed where appropriate,

• 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. review any information entered into the record as a result of the task delegated;

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

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

g. 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 patient and patient care. Records include data (within the meaning of the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003), demographics, clinical data, images, unique identification, investigation, samples, correspondence and communications relating to the patient and their care.

15. 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 colleagues and the authorities about the outcomes and implications of risk assessments;

d. read and understand the safety statement in your place or places of work.

16. Address risks to patients

You should

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

Ethics

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

17. 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 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).

18. 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.

19. 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 patient and the safeguarding of children or other vulnerable people, safeguarding should take precedence;

d. recognise that if there is a conflict between this Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics and your work environment, your obligation is to the Code;

e. ensure that you have adequate professional indemnity cover for all healthcare services you provide.

20. Undertake research in an ethical manner

You must

protect and destroy data in line with relevant legislation if you are involved in research.

You should

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

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

c. obtain informed consent from patients 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. disseminate or circulate the research findings widely to further the evidence base of the profession and to improve patient examination and treatment;

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

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

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

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

You should

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

Appendix A

Suggested procedure for ethical decision-making

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

23

rd October

, 2015.

The Optical 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