Alliance policies: Code of Practice

The Alliance believes that a revised Draft Code of Practice must be published alongside the Government's Bill to amend the 1983 Act in order to fully understand the scope of its provisions and to help interpret broad concepts. Without further clarification these provisions may be open to implementation in a manner that may or may not comply with human rights law.

The Code of Practice should be statutorily enforceable to ensure the proper safeguarding of patients’ rights. In practice this means that:

  1. compliance with the Code must be binding on practitioners except where individual clinical need demands departure; and
  2. the revised code of practice must be laid before Parliament and sufficient time must be set aside for full and proper debate.

The Alliance believes that it should be possible to amend the Code of Practice, to reflect changing circumstances. However, we do not think it appropriate for there to be unlimited flexibility. Instead, we believe that any amendment of the Code of Practice should be opened to consultation and laid before Parliament, as with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

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