scholarly journals The Failure of Professional Self-Regulation: The example of the UK Veterinary Profession

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eddie Blass
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Moral Integrity ◽  
Fair Process ◽  
Veterinary Profession ◽  
Veterinary Surgeons ◽  
Professional Body ◽  
Professional Self ◽  
The Uk

This paper argues the case for professional bodies to lose their right to self-regulate wholly within their membership. Using the example of an analysis of six cases that were reported to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) as cases of false certification in the last 3 years, this paper demonstrates that self-regulation allows moral integrity to be sacrificed at the expense of economic imperatives, and individual judgements to be preferenced over fair process and procedure. Five of the six cases presented in this paper were upheld by the professional body and the sixth was dismissed and went through the British legal system instead. Narrative analysis of the case reports reveals a lack of consistency in the professional body’s analysis of motive, causal connections, responsibility regarding implications and their role as either purveyor of standards or mentor to the profession, which has resulted in anomalies that leave the profession in disarray. By failing to act ‘professionally’ itself, this paper argues that the RCVS itself has undermined five of its own ten guiding principles, and hence can no longer regulate its own membership. The need for professional regulation beyond those provided by the professions themselves is presented if only by the inclusion of lay-people in professional disciplinary hearings.

scholarly journals The Need for a Professional Body for UK Paramedics

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Whitmore ◽  
Roland Furber
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Emergency Medical Technicians ◽  
Practice Standards ◽  
Professional Body ◽  
Professional Self ◽  
Professional Registration ◽  
The Uk

The standards to which UK Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians work have historically been driven by the employer rather than a professional body. This in effect has meant that the National Health Service (NHS) Ambulance Services decided how educational programmes were structured and delivered. The private sector in the UK has also tended to look towards the NHS standards as the yardstick for their staff, although there has been significant difficulty in gaining the NHS award by the private sector. The advent of professional registration in 2000, and crucially the enactment of The Health Professions Order 2001 that resulted in the setting up of the Health Professions Council (HPC), prompted a real drive to develop a true professional body for UK ambulance staff. That professional body is the British Paramedic Association – College of Paramedics (BPA). The BPA has, since those early days, pursued true professional self-regulation of education and practice standards. The BPA acknowledges the immense task it has set itself, but believes that it can and must be achieved in order that education and practice standards continue to develop and deliver what is felt to be in the best interests of patients. By engaging with the HPC, the unions, employers and, very importantly, higher education institutions, the BPA will truly fulfill the requirements of a professional body for UK ambulance staff.

scholarly journals Contrasting practices and opinions of UK-based veterinary surgeons around neutering cats at four months old

2020 ◽  
Vol 187 (8) ◽  
pp. 317-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenni McDonald ◽  
Jane Clements
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
General Anaesthetic ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Veterinary Profession ◽  
Learning Barriers ◽  
Veterinary Surgeons ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Geographic Risk ◽  
Qualitative Analyses

BackgroundMany cats in the UK are not neutered before reaching potential breeding age. The purpose of this investigation was to understand the prevalence of veterinarians’ behaviours around neutering cats at four months of age and to identify any needs of the veterinary profession on this.MethodsA sample of 483 veterinarians that completed a cross-sectional online questionnaire were included in quantitative and qualitative analyses.ResultsAlmost 70 per cent of veterinarians indicated they were comfortable carrying out neutering on cats of four months of age, and approximately half of veterinarians indicated they would recommend neutering client-owned cats at four months of age if practice policy permitted. There was no association found between these practices and geographic risk factors. Instead, neutering at four months was associated with the gender of the veterinarian, their practice policy and whether they routinely neuter unowned cats. Veterinarians have contrasting beliefs on similar themes, depending on whether they neuter kittens at four months or not, including differing opinions on general anaesthetic, surgery risks, owner compliance and their perceptions of neutering practices within the wider profession.ConclusionFamiliarity and experience with the procedure, alongside perceived norms, are central to beliefs. We also highlight informational and learning barriers.

The Right(s) to Procreate and Assisted Reproductive Technologies in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Glenn Cohen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Assisted Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Reproductive Technology ◽  
Professional Self ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right

This chapter focuses on the right (or rights) to procreate in the United States, with a focus on reproductive technology use. The United States has been too often described as the “wild west” of reproductive technology use. When measured against many of its comparators—Canada, Australia, the UK, Germany, etc.—it is undoubtedly true that more forms of reproductive technology use are permitted in the United States than elsewhere. It is for this reason that the United States has been a frequent destination for “circumvention tourism” or “fertility tourism.” At the same time, it would be wrong to think that reproductive medicine is unregulated in the United States. The chapter argues that it is just that the regulation is more fragmented, both in terms of the locus of control (federal vs. state authority, governmental vs. professional self-regulation, etc.) and also of the legal sources involved (more of a focus on tort law and family law than direct regulation at the statutory or constitutional level).

A structured policy review of the principles of professional self-regulation

2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.C. Benton ◽  
M.A. González-Jurado ◽  
J.V. Beneit-Montesinos
Keyword(s):  
Self Regulation ◽  
Policy Review ◽  
Professional Self

The Appointed Actuary.

1987 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 559-629
Author(s):  
Edward A. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Life Insurance ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Professional Role ◽  
The Self ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Prudential Supervision ◽  
Government Supervision ◽  
The Uk

1.1 A paper about the Appointed Actuary is essentially a paper about prudential supervision of life insurance companies. The system which has operated in the UK since the mid-1970's is only partly one of Government supervision. Through the professional role of the Appointed Actuary, it also contains elements of a system of self-regulation with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries standing in place of SRO's. Unlike the self-regulatory arrangements of the Financial Services Act. though, this second part of the system has grown up by custom and practice and in certain respects it is not codified. However it enables the Insurance Companies Act to be operated successfully.

scholarly journals The Development of Self-Regulation in Four UK Professional Communities

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stan Lester
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Professional Communities ◽  
Professional Groups ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Professional Self

Professional self-regulation is often conceptualised as involving the delegation of state powers to professional groups.  An examination of four groups in the United Kingdom provides examples of self-regulation that have developed, with one partial exception, without the support of any statutory framework. Some common aspects of self-regulation are identified along with some differences that relate to how the professions have evolved, and to their operating contexts. Significant influences include how the profession is situated among adjacent groups, the degree of demand from clients and employers for qualified practitioners, and potentially whether the occupation is suitable as an initial career or requires  a measure of maturity and prior experience. An argument is made for greater recognition, both through practical examples and in academic discourse of self-regulation that is initiated and furthered voluntarily through negotiation between professions, their members and their clients rather than via legislative powers. 

scholarly journals A Cross-Sectional Study of Experiences and Attitudes towards Clinical Audit of Farm Animal Veterinary Surgeons in the United Kingdom

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Katie Waine ◽  
Rachel S. Dean ◽  
Chris Hudson ◽  
Jonathan Huxley ◽  
Marnie L. Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Audit ◽  
Nationwide Survey ◽  
Clinical Work ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Farm Animal ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Protected Time ◽  
Veterinary Surgeons ◽  
The Uk

Clinical audit is a quality improvement tool used to assess and improve the clinical services provided to patients. This is the first study to investigate the extent to which clinical audit is understood and utilised in farm animal veterinary practice. A cross-sectional study to collect experiences and attitudes of farm animal veterinary surgeons in the UK towards clinical audit was conducted using an online nationwide survey. The survey revealed that whilst just under three-quarters (n = 237/325; 73%) of responding veterinary surgeons had heard of clinical audit, nearly 50% (n = 148/301) had never been involved in a clinical audit of any species. The participants’ knowledge of what a clinical audit was varied substantially, with many respondents reporting not receiving training on clinical audit at the undergraduate or postgraduate level. Respondents that had participated in a clinical audit suggested that protected time away from clinical work was required for the process to be completed successfully. This novel study suggests that clinical audit is undertaken to some extent in farm animal practice and that practitioner perception is that it can bring benefits, but was felt that more resources and support were needed for it to be implemented successfully on a wider scale.

scholarly journals Community Energy Companies in the UK: A Potential Model for Sustainable Development in “Local” Energy?

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Séverine Saintier
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Energy Sector ◽  
Community Initiatives ◽  
Community Interest ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Energy Community ◽  
The Uk

The rise of renewable energy sources (RES) comes with a shift in attention from government and market energy governance to local community initiatives and self-regulation. Although this shift is generally welcome at domestic and EU level, the regulatory dimension, at both levels, is nevertheless not adapted to this multi-actor market since prosumers are not empowered and energy justice is far from achieved. The rise, in the UK, of Community Interest Companies (consumers and local actors’ collectives) in the energy sector provides an interesting perspective as it allows a whole system’s view. Research was conducted with six energy community organizations in the South West of England in order to evaluate their role and identity and assess whether this exemplar of “the rise of a social sphere in regulation” could be used as a model for a more sustainable social approach to the governance of economic relations. Findings illustrate that such organizations undoubtedly play an important role in the renewable energy sector and they also help to alleviate some aspects of “energy injustice”. Yet, the failure to recognize, in terms of energy policy, at domestic and EU level, the importance of such actors undermines their role. The need to embed and support such organizations in policy is necessary if one is to succeed to put justice at the core of the changing energy landscape.

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