What is changing

Revised standards of conduct, performance and ethics - valid from 1 September 2024

• 1. Promote and protect the interests of service users and carers

   

  Treat service users and carers with respect

  1.1 You must treat service users and carers as individuals, respecting their privacy and dignity.	Unchanged
  1.2 You must work in partnership with service users and carers, involving them, where appropriate, in decisions about the care, treatment or other services to be provided.	Unchanged
  1.3 You must empower and enable service users, where appropriate, to play a part in maintaining their own health and well-being and support them so they can make informed decisions.	Updated from: “1.3 You must encourage and help service users, where appropriate, to maintain their own health and well-being, and support them so they can make informed decisions.”

  
  Make sure you have consent

  1.4 You must make sure that you have valid consent, which is voluntary and informed, from service users who have capacity to make the decision or other appropriate authority before you provide care, treatment or other services.

  Updated from: “1.4 You must make sure that you have consent from service users or other appropriate authority before you provide care, treatment or other services.”

  
  Challenge discrimination

  1.5 You must treat people fairly and be aware of the potential impact that your personal values, biases and beliefs may have on the care, treatment or other services that you provide to service users and carers and in your interactions with colleagues.	New
  1.6 You must take action to ensure that your personal values, biases and beliefs do not lead you to discriminate against service users, carers or colleagues. Your personal values, biases and beliefs must not detrimentally impact the care, treatment or other services that you provide.	Updated from: “1.5 You must not discriminate against service users, carers or colleagues by allowing your personal views to affect your professional relationships or the care, treatment or other services that you provide.”
  1.7 You must raise concerns about colleagues if you think that they are treating people unfairly and/or their personal values, biases and beliefs have led them to discriminate against service users, carers and/or colleagues or they have detrimentally impacted the care, treatment or other services that they provide. This should be done following the relevant procedures within your practice and maintain the safety of all involved.	Updated from: “1.6 You must challenge colleagues if you think that they have discriminated against, or are discriminating against, service users, carers and colleagues.”

  
  Maintain appropriate boundaries

  1.8 You must consider the potential impact that the position of power and trust you hold as a health and care professional may have on individuals when in social or personal settings.	New Standards replacing previous Standard 1.7
  1.9 You must take action to set and maintain appropriate professional boundaries with service users and/or carers and colleagues.
  1.10 You must use appropriate methods of communication to provide care and other services related to your practice
  1.11 You must ensure that existing personal relationships do not impact professional decisions.
  1.12 You must not abuse your position as a health and care practitioner to pursue personal, sexual, emotional or financial relationships with service users and/or carers, or colleagues.

   

• 2. Communicate appropriately and effectively

   

  Communicate with service users and carers

  2.1 You must be polite and considerate.	Unchanged
  2.2 You must listen to service users and carers and take account of their needs and wishes.	Unchanged
  2.3 You must give service users and carers the information they want or need, in a way they can understand.	Unchanged
  2.4 You must make sure that all practicable steps are taken to meet service users’ and carers’ language and communication needs.	Updated from: “2.4 You must make sure that, where possible, arrangements are made to meet service users’ and carers’ language and communication needs.”
  2.5 You must use all forms of communication responsibly when communicating with service users and their carers.	New

   

  Work with colleagues

  2.6 You must work in partnership with colleagues, sharing your skills, knowledge and experience where appropriate, for the benefit of service users and carers.	Previously Standard 2.5
  2.7 You must share relevant information, where appropriate, with colleagues involved in the care, treatment or other services provided to a service user.	Previously Standard 2.6
  2.8 You must treat your colleagues in a professional manner showing them respect and consideration.	New
  2.9 You must use all forms of communication with colleagues and other health and care professionals responsibly including media sharing networks and social networking sites.	New

   

  Social media and networking sites

  2.10 You must use media sharing networks and social networking sites responsibly.	Updated from: “2.7 You must use all forms of communication appropriately and responsibly, including social media and networking websites.”
  2.11 You must make reasonable checks to ensure information you share is accurate, true, does not mislead the public and is in line with your duty to promote public health when sharing information on media sharing networks and social networking sites.	New
  2.12 You must use media sharing networks and social networking sites responsibly, maintaining professional boundaries at all times and protecting service user/carer privacy.	New

   

• 3. Work within the limits of your knowledge and skills

   

  Keep within your scope of practice

  3.1 You must only practise in the areas where you have the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to meet the needs of a service user safely and effectively.	Updated from: “3.1 You must keep within your scope of practice by only practising in the areas you have appropriate knowledge, skills and experience for.”
  3.2 You must undertake additional training to update your knowledge, skills and experience if you wish to widen your scope of practice.	New
  3.3 You must refer a service user to an appropriate practitioner if the care, treatment or other services they need are beyond your scope of practice. This person must hold the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to meet the needs of the service user safely and effectively.	Updated from: “3.2 You must refer a service user to another practitioner if the care, treatment or other services they need are beyond your scope of practice.”

  
  Maintain and develop your knowledge and skills

  3.4 You must keep your knowledge and skills up to date and relevant to your scope of practice through continuing professional development.	Previously Standard 3.3
  3.5 You must keep up to date with and follow the law, our guidance and other requirements relevant to your practice.	Previously Standard 3.4
  3.6 You must ask for feedback and use it to improve your practice.	Previously Standard 3.5

   

• 4. Delegate appropriately

   

  Delegation, oversight and support

  4.1 You must only delegate work to someone who has the knowledge, skills and experience needed to carry it out safely and effectively.	Unchanged
  4.2 You must continue to provide appropriate supervision and support to those you delegate work to.	Unchanged

   

• 5. Respect Confidentiality

   

  Using information

  5.1 You must treat information about service users as confidential.

  Unchanged

  
  Disclosing information

  5.2  You must only disclose confidential information if:	Unchanged
  · you have permission;
  · the law allows this;
  · it is in the service user’s best interests; or
  · it is in the public interest, such as if it is necessary to protect public safety or prevent harm to other people.

   

• 6. Manage risk

   

  Identify and minimise risk

  6.1 You must take all reasonable steps to reduce the risk of harm to service users, carers and colleagues as far as possible.	Unchanged
  6.2 You must not do anything, or allow someone else to do anything, which could put the health or safety of a service user, carer or colleague at unacceptable risk.	Unchanged

  
  Manage your health

  6.3 You must take responsibility for assessing whether changes to your physical and/or mental health will detrimentally impact your ability to practise safely and effectively. If you are unsure about your ability to do so, ask an appropriate health and care professional to make an assessment on your behalf.	New
  6.4 You must adjust your practice if your physical and/or mental health will detrimentally impact your ability to practise safely and effectively. These adjustments must promote safe and effective practice. Where it is not possible to make these adjustments within your scope of practice, you must stop practising.	Updated from: “6.3 You must make changes to how you practise, or stop practising, if your physical or mental health may affect your performance or judgement, or put others at risk for any other reason.

• 7. Report concerns about safety

   

  Report concerns

  7.1 You must report any concerns about the safety or well-being of service users promptly and appropriately.	Unchanged
  7.2 You must support and encourage others to report concerns and not prevent anyone from raising concerns.	Unchanged
  7.3 You must take appropriate action if you have concerns about the safety or well-being of children or vulnerable adults.	Unchanged
  7.4 You must make sure that the safety and well-being of service users always comes before any professional or other loyalties.	Unchanged
  7.5 You must raise concerns regarding colleagues if you witness bullying, harassment or intimidation of a service user, their carer or another colleague. This should be done following the relevant procedures within your practice or organisation and maintaining the safety of all involved.	New

  
  Follow up concerns

  7.6 You must follow up concerns you have reported and, if necessary, escalate them.	Previously Standard 7.5
  7.7 You must acknowledge and act on concerns raised to you, investigating, escalating or dealing with those concerns where it is appropriate for you to do so.	Previously Standard 7.6

   

• 8. Be open when things go wrong

   

  Openness with service users and carers

  8.1 You must be open, honest and candid when something has gone wrong with the care, treatment or other services that you provide by:	Updated from: “8.1 You must be open and honest when something has gone wrong with the care, treatment or other services that you provide by:
  · Where applicable, alerting your employer of what has gone wrong and following the relevant internal procedures.	Updated from: · “informing service users or, where appropriate, their carers, that something has gone wrong; · apologising; · taking action to put matters right if possible; and · making sure that service users or, where appropriate, their carers, receive a full and prompt explanation of what has happened and any likely effects.”
  · Informing service users and/or where appropriate, their carer or where you do not have direct access to these individuals, the lead clinician, to inform them that something has gone wrong,
  · Providing service users and/or their carer with a detailed explanation of the circumstances in which things have gone wrong and the likely impact
  · Taking action to correct the mistake if possible and detailing this action to the service user and/or where appropriate, their carer.
  8.2 You must apologise to a service user and/or their carer when something has gone wrong with the care, treatment or other service that you provide.	New

  
  Deal with concerns and complaints

  8.3 You must support service users and carers who want to raise concerns about the care, treatment or other services they have received.	Previously Standard 8.2
  8.4 You must give a helpful and honest response to anyone who complains about the care, treatment or other services they have received.	Previously Standard 8.3

• 9. Be honest and trustworthy

   

  Personal and professional behaviour

  9.1 You must make sure that your conduct justifies the public’s trust and confidence in you and your profession.	Unchanged
  9.2 You must be honest about your experience, qualifications and skills.	Unchanged
  9.3 You must take reasonable steps to make sure that any promotional activities you are involved in are accurate and are not likely to mislead.	Unchanged
  9.4 You must declare issues that might create conflicts of interest and make sure that they do not influence your judgement.	Unchanged

  
  Important information about your conduct and competence

  9.5 You must tell us as soon as possible, and in any event, of being notified if:	Unchanged
  · you accept a caution from the police or you have been charged with, or found guilty of, a criminal offence;
  · another organisation responsible for regulating a health or social-care profession has taken action or made a finding against you; or
  · you have had any restriction placed on your practice, or been suspended or dismissed by an employer, because of concerns about your conduct or competence.
  9.6 You must co-operate with any investigation into your conduct or competence, the conduct or competence of others, or the care, treatment or other services provided to service users.	Unchanged

   

• 10. Keep records of your work

   

  Keep accurate records

  10.1 You must keep full, clear, and accurate records for everyone you care for, treat, or provide other services to.	Unchanged
  10.2 You must complete all records promptly and as soon as possible after providing care, treatment or other services.	Unchanged

  
  Keep records secure

  10.3 You must keep records secure by protecting them from loss, damage or inappropriate access.

  Unchanged