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General 1. The purpose of this procedure is to ensure the impartial examining of a complaint against a practitioner. The mediation of the European Cranial and Complementary Medial Association in complaints serves to assist relationships between you and your patients and also between you and your fellow practitioners. 2. Nothing in this process should be seen as a limitation upon the creation of good understanding and a sincere rapport between you and your patients. The Association recognises that some complaints are a result of misunderstanding. 3. The Directors of the Association shall advise and give direction on matters of principle and the conduct of all practitioners. If and when appropriate, they shall appoint one of their number to be responsible for overseeing professional standards and initiating any adjudication process that may be necessary, in accordance with the Association guidelines for codes of ethics and protocols. 4. A complaint may be brought by a member or another member of the Association. Any person considering making a formal complaint may have preliminary confidential discussions with the Directors and other advisory personnel. 5. A formal complaint should normally be lodged within two years of the event. 6. Complaints will normally be dealt with internally unless they are concerning issues of sufficient severity or complexity to warrant outside adjudication. In which case a Panel will be drawn from members of the European Cranial and Complementary Medical Association and the Council of Complementary Medical Organisations (for Integrated, Constitutional Medical Practice) which consists of representatives of those professional complementary medical authorities relevant to the Integrated, Constitutional Treatment Programme. 7. Adjudication and the use of sanctions may follow the initial investigation if it is felt that the complaint either warrants further clarification in order to resolve a situation or is indicative of a serious breach of the Code of Practice and Ethics.
Alterations This Disciplinary Code may be altered at any time by a majority of the Directors of the European Cranial and Complementary Medical Association. Prior to a decision being made, all Members shall be notified of the proposed alteration and given an opportunity to comment upon it. Having genuinely considered all comments received, the Directors will make their decision and inform all Members of the alterations. A Introduction to the Complaints Procedure A1 The purpose of the procedures contained in this code and the Articles of Association is to deal formally with complaints that are made against an Integrated, Constitutional Complementary Medical Practitioner relating to their professional practice, which cannot be resolved by other means, such as informal discussion or exchange of letters. It is not primarily a punitive process, but a means of ensuring that inappropriate behaviour or professional incompetence is investigated and corrected in order to prevent a recurrence. A 2 Guidance on this Code is the responsibility of the Directors of the European Cranial and Complementary Medical Association and the Code will be updated at regular intervals in the light of experience. A 3 Any breaches in the use of this Code will not necessarily render the proceedings void and will be considered in the overall context of the reasonable operation of the spirit of the Code.
B Confidentiality of the Complaints Procedure B1The principle of confidentiality is that good faith should be maintained between people. This good faith is usually taken to mean the protection of information that comes into the possession of one person about another, whether or not this information is labelled as confidential or whether confidentiality is only implied. B2Adjudication proceedings will be held in camera and those present at a Panel hearing will be expected to treat all the information exchanged during an adjudication procedure as confidential. Copies of all papers, together with a summary of the proceedings and findings will be kept in the confidential files at the Association's Office.
C Preliminary Investigations C1 When a complaint is received, the Directors of the European Association will thoroughly investigate the facts of the matter as soon as possible, making enquiries of all concerned. They will act as mediators and conciliator, helping all involved to find their way to an agreed resolution of the problem raised. The sole objective at this stage is to obtain facts, inform the parties and clarify any misunderstandings between them, so enabling any mistakes to be acknowledged and rectified as far as may be possible. C2 The Member will be told the outcome as soon as possible, and the Directors will present a summary of facts at the next Board Meeting. If a complaint cannot be resolved through mediation, or an alleged misbehaviour is too serious for simple resolution or reconciliation, then the process will move to the next stage, which is a hearing before a Panel assembled from representatives of the relevant professional complementary medical organisations including a representative from the respective discipline of the Member.
D The Adjudication Panel D1 In preparation for a Panel hearing, all papers will be passed to the Directors, who take the responsibility for ensuring that all parties are informed of the proceedings and their format. D2 No disciplinary hearing will proceed unless prior written notice has been given to the Member concerned, informing him/her of the time, date and place of the hearing, the nature of the complaint against him/her and the right to representation. It is the Member's responsibility to ensure that the address information held by the Society is accurate. D3 All parties having been told the date, time and place of the hearing, they will be asked to provide written statements of all allegations, evidence or other relevant material at least twenty-one days prior to the date of the hearing. D4 Having gathered statements of evidence from all parties, the Directors will send copies to the other parties and to the members of the Panel at least ten days before the date of the hearing. D5 A party may be accompanied by one person who may represent them, if they wish. This representative may speak on behalf of the person at the hearing but this will not preclude the party from speaking upon his/her own behalf or calling any specialist evidence to support his/her case. Where one party is to be represented, the Directors shall inform all other parties of this fact and the nature of the representation e.g. any professional status of the representative. The presence of a person lending support but not taking any part in the hearing will not be regarded as representation. D6 The Directors will also check whether any witnesses are to be called by any party, and if so the names of those witnesses and whether any party is to be represented at the hearing. D7The decision of the Panel may be made on the day of the hearing or at a later time, but the Panel will make its report together with its decision to the Directors within twenty-eight days of the completion of the hearing. The Panel will indicate the grounds for its decision and refer to the Articles of Association, the Code of Ethics or other regulations to show contravention of these in their judgement of misconduct or incompetence. A simple majority is required to decide any penalty to be imposed. D8 If the Member has been found to be at fault, then the following courses of action are available to the Panel: to issue a first warning, a further warning,-a final warning, a reprimand, a demand to give a written undertaking not to re-offend, a suspension or an expulsion from membership. The Panel may alternatively /also recommend that a member should embark upon a period of treatment, counselling, supervision or training which is relevant to the matter in hand. D9 Full descriptions of the penalties are contained in the appendices to the 'Complaints Procedure'
E Appeals E1Within seven days of receiving notice of the decision of the panel the Directors will notify the result in writing to the complainant and to the Member concerned, informing the latter of his/her right to appeal. Within twenty-eight days of receiving this notice, the Member can write to the Secretary of the Association giving notice of his/her intention to appeal against the decision of the Panel and giving grounds for the appeal. E2The grounds for appeal are; (a) there is evidence which was not available at the Panel hearing (b) there is evidence that procedures were not properly followed (c) the Member considers that he/she has been unjustly or unfairly treated in the adjudication process (d) the directors have twice refused to ratify the Panel decision.
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