Protect yourself!

The legal view on protecting individuals in professional practice

Protect yourself!
As a paramedic you will often work in a high pressure environment making split second decisions and exposing yourself to both personal risk and professional liability. Add to that public spending cuts altering the healthcare landscape, and healthcare services and delivery being put under more pressure than ever to provide effective and efficient treatment and you have all the ingredients for a highly charged workplace with risks of complaints, litigation and criticisms of your professional conduct.

It is important to ensure that in trying to save the lives of patients, you, as a regulated healthcare professional accountable to the Health Professions Council (HPC), are also protected. Unfortunately, even when you have operated within standard protocols, complaints can arise and it is important to know both how to reduce the chances of this, and also what you should do in the event that allegations are made against you.

Prevention - Note keeping & CPD
Keeping clear, complete and contemporaneous records is an important part of being a healthcare professional. It also helps, in the event of criticism, to have a full record to rely on as evidence. Keeping detailed records is an important part of both protecting the patient and protecting you.

It is important to ensure that your wide ranging skills are entirely up to date. Ensure that you are fully aware of the HPC's guidance on continuing professional development (CPD) and what is required of you.

Off duty - Beware Facebook or Twitter
The HPC will also consider any criticism which is unrelated to your clinical practice but which may raise concerns that your standard of behaviour in your personal life brings the profession into disrepute. Modern healthcare regulation is such that professional standards must be maintained whether you are on or off-duty. Never put confidential or sensitive information on social networking sites or befriend patients online.

Professional Indemnity Cover
You should consider obtaining professional indemnity cover, for example, if you are a specialist paramedic, work for a private health provider/ out of hours provider/ walk-in centre or minor injuries unit. Your indemnity provider can provide you with invaluable advice and assistance. If you are working solely in the NHS then the Trust will handle claims on your behalf but will not assist with any regulatory investigation.

Dealing with a complaint - Taking advice
Your employer has an obligation to respond to complaints and a response is often made directly by your employer, who may ask for your input. You may also be required to provide evidence to a Coroner's Inquest and, whilst it is important for you to co-operate with internal and external investigations, it is of paramount importance to seek your own early advice to protect yourself.

Complaints can rapidly escalate to referral to the HPC and it is important to remember from the outset that any internal investigation has the potential to become a matter for the HPC, indeed it may be your employer who notifies your regulator of health, conduct or performance concerns.

Dealing with criticism - Your response
In responding to an investigation or complaint to the HPC check the facts carefully, do not speculate nor comment on matters outside of your knowledge. Often you will be asked to recall events which occurred some time ago and it is therefore perfectly reasonable to be unable to recall certain details. To ensure that you are accurate and consistent in your response do not try to give details if you do not remember them clearly.

One of the most damaging misjudgements a professional can make is to attempt to cover up a mistake. It is important to remember that adverse events occur and mistakes do happen but if you are found to have been dishonest the consequences will be much more severe.

Should a complaint or an incident escalate to a full inquiry by the HPC they will ultimately consider (if the allegations are found proved) whether your fitness to practise is currently impaired. The HPC will take into account your acknowledgement of any past shortcomings and will look very carefully at the efforts you have made to address these. Targeted CPD, such as refresher training, is a significant step in ensuring that any mistakes will not be repeated in the future.

Review of recent HPC cases indicates that the chances of a successful outcome in an HPC investigation increase dramatically if you seek early advice, respond to the complaint and co-operate with an investigation. When a paramedic does not engage with the HPC investigation and is not represented at the hearing, an adverse outcome (suspension or erasure from the HPC register) is largely inevitable.

Top tips
As in any profession, it is often the minority making the headlines for the wrong reasons turning the spotlight on an otherwise competent and professional group of individuals. The present culture is one where almost every healthcare professional will be involved in a complaint at least once throughout their career. Dealing with a complaint appropriately and quickly will reduce the likelihood of making headlines for the wrong reasons.

Judith Duffin and Ewan Bright are solicitors in the healthcare team at national law firm Berrymans Lace Mawer LLP - www.blm-law.com

The article is not a substitute for specific legal advice and should not be relied upon as such.