Abstract
BackgroundThe role of ethics in a medical context is to protect the interests of patients. Thus, it is critically important to understand the guilty verdicts related to professional standard breaches and ethics misconduct of physiotherapists.AimTo analyse the case content and penalties of all guilty verdicts related to ethics misconduct against registered physiotherapists in South Africa.MethodsA mixed methods approach was followed consisting of epidemiological data analysis and qualitative content analysis. The data documents were formal annual lists (2007–2013) of guilty verdicts related to ethical misconduct. Quantitative data analysis focused on annual frequencies of guilty verdicts, transgression categories and the imposed penalties. Qualitative data analysis focused on content analysis of the case content for each guilty verdict.ResultsRelatively few physiotherapists (0.05%) are annually found guilty of ethical misconduct. The two most frequent penalties were fines of R5000.00 and fines of R8000.00 – R10 000.00. The majority of transgressions involved fraudulent conduct (70.3%), followed by performance of procedures without patient consent (10.8%). Fraudulent conduct involved issuing misleading, inaccurate or false medical statements, and false or inaccurate medical aid scheme claims.ConclusionUnethical conduct by physiotherapists in South Africa occurs rarely. The majority of penalties imposed on sanctioned physiotherapists were monetary penalties.
Highlights
Ethics is a discipline of thought and study regarding the moral principles of human behaviour; it is about right and wrong in conduct, often in accordance with explicit or implicit rules or standards as accepted within a specific context (Kirby 2009)
The results indicate that annually only a very small fraction of registered physiotherapists were found guilty of misconduct during the study period
The total of 37 transgressions across the study period (7 years) for an annual average of 5709 registered physiotherapists in South Africa is slightly higher than the total of five serious ethical transgressions for the period 2006–2013 (8 years) for approximately 4200 registered practitioners during the same period in New Zealand (New Zealand Health Practitioner Disciplinary Tribunal [NZHPDT] 2014)
Summary
Ethics is a discipline of thought and study regarding the moral principles of human behaviour; it is about right and wrong in conduct, often in accordance with explicit or implicit rules or standards as accepted within a specific context (Kirby 2009). The conduct of most practitioners in formally recognised health professions across the world is guided and regulated by ethical standards and codes of conduct to protect the public at large and patients These standards and codes of conduct define foundational ethical principles, describe professional obligations, aim to raise accountability, commitment and professional integrity, whilst promoting adherence and compliance to those standards (Banks 1998; Burke et al 2007; Oyeyemi 2011). The written codes in themselves do not ensure ethical practice or avert health professionals from engaging in various forms of unethical behaviour in professional-patient and professional practice contexts; ethical conduct is more than simple compliance to rules and regulations (Banks 1998) Inherent ethical values such as professionalism, honesty and integrity are vitally important in these contexts to guide and motivate each health practitioner’s ethical conduct. It is critically important to understand the guilty verdicts related to professional standard breaches and ethics misconduct of physiotherapists
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