The Law Court Scenario in Terms of Medico-Legal Aspects - Essay Example

Discuss the law court scenario as a case study in terms of medico legal aspects and radiographers scope of practice. al affiliation) Introduction The accused worked as a band five radiographers at Hertfordshire hospital university trust between 16th October 2012 and 16th July 2014. However, he failed to meet the required level of competence expected from a newly qualified radiographer. Professional regulators have a mandate of ensuring professional competence is observed with an aim of protecting the public. Professionals are expected to remain competent throughout the years. Bodies such as the health and care professions councils (HCPC) provide direction on issues related to competence at the place of work. The patients’ rights are among the concrete issues targeting the radiographer’s scope of practice. Issues such as informed consent, patient bills of rights, confidentiality, and privacy, extent of care, information access, research participation and living will are among the core issues discussed in the court of law involving the scope of practice of the radiographers’ Medico- legal aspect and the scope of practice (McCarthy, 2007). Professional Malpractice and negligence are among the medico legal aspects that are presented in court. Medico legal aspect and the radiographer’s scope of practice On examining a 76 year old man on an X-ray machine, the accused performed an examination with the patient standing yet it was to be done while the patient is seated because of the patient’s condition. A professional radiographer should be aware of how to handle the patient during procedures. Apart from that the radiographer was also accused of not able to demonstrate independent assessment of the patient and utilize his radiological technique to satisfy the need of the patient as required. Radiographer’s scope of practice entails effective and safe application of competences achieved through best practice in the utilization of the other energy forms and ionizing radiations. Radiography encompasses therapeutic intervention and production of diagnostic images as well as the assessment and evaluations and therapeutic approaches (MASON, 2010). The patient’s safety should be a concern during performance of radiological procedures. Radiographers should always be aware of the scope of practice and HCPC ethics associated with their profession. Radiology is considered one of the most demanding and sophisticated profession. The accused being a radiographer should be aware of the professional requirement and should work as per the standard and the scope of practice. Health providers including radiographers are supposed to utilize RIDDOR which is the reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrence. Both the radiographer in charge and the students were able to report the incident though the radiographer failed to report what really happened in the examination room. Reporting of incidences should be done in an honest manner so that appropriate measures are taken (Walsh, 2010). The accused is unable to make clinical judgement regarding the ability of the patient to stand. He is also unable to articulate his clinical reasoning and ended up making recommendations that were considered inappropriate. The accused did not apply correct handling techniques when standing the patient from sitting position. He failed to apply the brakes of the wheelchair as per the manual handling principle. The practice amounts to lack of competence as stipulated by the HCPC guidelines and the accused should be allowed to continue working as a radiographer. Radiographers should work under minimal supervisions and are to be accountable for the type of decisions that they make. The accused made wrong decisions that are against the HCPC’s standard of practice and ethics (Brahams, 2011). HCPC competence demands that radiographers work within good judgement, acquired skills, bound of knowledge within the environment where they work. In order to acquire professional standards, radiographers work in various settings in collaboration with other occupations and medical profession. Radiographer’s standard of practice provides direction to maintain and achieve the impact of the technology on the health care system. The profession and the professionals are influenced by procedures, policies, protocols and guidelines and legislations that guide them (Harris, 2010). Medical legal issues targeting radiography has been retitled and updated and broadened. Issues such as legal doctrines, risk management information, malpractice, patient’s right and ethics are of concern that the professional bodies can forward the issue in court to be contested (Price and Le Masurier, 2007). Student’s decisions are to be monitored by professionals working with them. The bullying and harassment policies protect students from being harassed by other professionals in the place of work. Although the student was unable to see what the supervisor wrote, she was able to report the incident to the practice educator though with a little fear. The scope of practice allows students registration to be upheld in cases of negligence though for sometimes. On 27th June the radiographer instructed a student to say that the brakes were applied yet it was not done. According to the scope of practice, a professional radiographer should be in a position to pass knowledge and guide the student during practice and should act as a mentor in the practice. The accused misguided the student into giving false statements which was intended at saving them from the repercussions that could ensue. Radiographers are often expected to perform their work as stipulated by their guidelines and scope of practice. The scope of practice asserts that the professionals are to be honest and beneficent (Filshie, 2006).Radiographers are required to posses, maintain and utilize knowledge of radiation safety and practice. They prepare document and administer and documents procedures that are related to medication in accordance with policy of the institution .both the student and the radiographer are responsible for their actions towards the patient. They both had knowledge on how to handle the patient on a wheelchair as presented in the manual handling policies. They often liaise with the licensed independent practitioners, patients, support groups and other related members. They are supposed to be sensitive to the needs of the patients through patient assessment, patient care skills, patient monitoring and good communications (Ausman, 2010). The accused on 27th June 2014 gave an overview of the situation on a DATIX incident reporting form. The statement stipulated that the brakes had been applied and that the patient was assessed for strength and asked whether they could be able to stand. The accused behavior constitutes dishonesty and fraudulent behavior. Information provided in the Datix form by the accused is wrong and does not bring out the exact occurrence in the examination room. Radiographers should always be honest and should be accountable for the mistakes done (SCHENKER and FRENKEL, 2008). A radiographer is expected to exercise personal thoughts, discretion and judgement in the performance of procedures with the boundaries of the applicable restrictions and legal requirements. The scope of practice for radiographers include; receiving, relaying and documenting electronic, verbal and written orders in the medical records of the patient. The accused however gave wrong information in the DATIX incident report which amount to dishonesty and should therefore be accountable for it. Professionals are often required to be honest and do the right thing with the safety of the patient in mind (Nixon, 2006). Demonstration of skills required at the work environment The information from the porter indicates that the patient was unsteady on his feet and was to be offered assistance in order to get on his wheelchair. The student confirmed his identity and wheeled him into the examination room. Five minutes later the patient began shouting for assistance from inside the X-ray room. He informed the casuality of the occurrence and a team was immediately sent to intervene. Both the student and the supervisor had prior knowledge on handling patients who are utilizing the wheelchair services but failed to apply it (Walsh, 2010). The radiographer should have indicated that the absence of the brakes amounted to the situation. Due to fear of the patient’s safety, the qualified radiographer decided to be dishonest and in the process asked the student to support his idea. Both the student radiographer and the supervisor are supposed to be accountable for the safety of the patient while inside the examination room. The student however took the appropriate action by reporting the happening to the practice educator. The accused should be accountable for the safety of the patient as per the scope of practice. Being a supervisor, he is expected to do the right thing and make decisions that are effective with the safety of the patient in mind. The application of ALARA principle to help minimize exposure to self, patients and others, performance of venipuncture as prescribed, maintenance of an intravenous access, identifying, administering and preparing medications as prescribed by a licensed practitioners, managing of emergency situations and educating and monitoring students together with other health care providers (Perera, 2009). A radiologist is expected to exercise all the patient safety principles during all radio graphical procedures including transportation and patient assistance. The accused however failed to provide a safe procedure by causing injuries and dislocation to the patient and should be accountable for it. Competency and proficiency in radiography training required for practice A competent radiographer should be well educated and clinically competent. He should be able to prepare the patient well for the procedure, able to implement the action plan, should be in a position to explain each step of an action plan and should utilize integrated team approach in the promotion of care. A radiographer should be able to asses and monitor the patient’s mental, physical and emotional status. He should be able to apply the sterile technique procedures, immobilize patient for procedures and position the patient with the anatomical area of interest in mind (Smith, 2006). The reaction of the patient to medication should also be assessed. The accused failed to position the position well and his negligence amounted resulted to injuries. The safety and needs of the patient during the procedure should be a concern of the radiographer. A competent radiographer should be a position to employ safety procedure toward the patient and should be aware of the scope of practice and professional ethics. The information provided by the radiology manager is different from that of the student and depicts that the radiologist was dishonest and negligence. The action of the radiographer affirms that he was incompetent. He attended the manual handling session on 12th April 2011. A professional should always update themselves of the scope of practice and standard of practice with an intention of avoiding malpractice (Yitna and le Roux-Kemp, 2010). The action of the radiology manager toward the accused is justified. The hospital should also arrange several sessions to remind the professionals of any changes in the way patients are handled. The patient’s emotional, mental and physical well being is to be assessed before and after the stipulated procedure (Castle and Reeves, 2007). The accused radiologist is expected to do the right thing by being concerned about the safety of the patient in the examination room. It was the responsibility of the accused to apply the manual handling policies of the hospital associated with patients on wheelchair (Walsh, 2010). The fracture on the neck of the femur was associated with the fall in the examination room. Both the accused were supposed to be observant and concerned about the safety of the patient in order to prevent such occurrences from taking place. A radiographer is expected to be accountable for his own decisions and action during the practice. The court decision toward the situation is therefore justified and should serve as a warning to other radiologist in practice (Eddy, 2008). Conclusion Radiographers should therefore avoid professional malpractice and pay attention to ethics and scope of practice. Patient’s safety should be a concern of any radiologist (Wareing and Henderson, 2014). A competent radiographer is expected to take care of the patient’s safety all the time during preparation and performance of procedures. 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