Chapter 5

							                              Medicines Code – issue 2

                                     Chapter 5
                                   Accountability




    In General
                                                                                    Notes

!   Health Service employers are accountable to both criminal and civil courts to
    ensure their activities conform to legal requirements

    Employees are accountable to their employer as defined in their contract of
    employment.

    The governance structure for the employing organisation should clearly
N   demonstrate who is accountable to whom.


     Professional accountability
     Registered Health Care Professionals are accountable to their
     professional registration body. (E.g. Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great
     Britain, General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council etc)

     Registrants are bound by their own professions code of conduct and
     ethics. The standards for practice and patient care are governed by the
     regulating bodies.




     Delegating Tasks
     All registered staff delegating tasks are responsible and accountable for
     determining the levels of skill and knowledge required to perform the
     delegated tasks.

     The practitioner is accountable for delegating the task. The individual to
     whom the task is delegated is accountable for accepting the task and for
     their actions whilst completing the task.




       Linda Fox                      Chapter 5               November 2008
                                      Page 1