Our registrants must treat service users, carers and colleagues with respect and dignity, and maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
This means that they must not pursue a personal, sexual, emotional or financial relationship with a service user or their carer.
Our standards of conduct, performance and ethics set this out in standard 1 relating to maintaining professional boundaries:
"You must not abuse your position as a health and care practitioner to pursue personal, sexual, emotional or financial relationships with service users, carers or colleagues."
As a service user your health professional should always treat you with dignity and respect.
They should ensure that you are comfortable with the care they are providing to you, that you understand what is being done to you and why, and that you are happy for them to proceed with that care. They should explain any examination or treatment to you so that you can understand what is being proposed. They should obtain your consent (agreement) before they proceed.
You can decide whether or not you wish to continue with any examination, treatment or therapy that they offer. You can say no and you can stop an examination, treatment or therapy at any point.
You are always able to take along a relative or friend to any of your appointments or treatments. You can also ask for a chaperone to be provided. A chaperone is another health professional or member of staff who can observe your examination, treatment or therapy.
If you are asked to undress, you should always understand why it is necessary for you to undress. You should also be able to undress and dress in private either by being behind a curtain or screen or the health professional leaving the treatment room to allow you privacy. You should be provided with a gown or cover to use whilst undressed, which should be used to cover those areas of your body that are not being treated. If you do not wish to remove your clothing, please say this to your health professional.
You should never feel pressured to agree to, or go along with, any examination, treatment or therapy.
What you should expect from your health and care professional
As a registrant, you have responsibilities to raise concerns about the safety and wellbeing of service users, and about colleagues who bully, harass or intimidate another colleague.
You may also want to speak to someone or raise a concern if you have been bullied, harassed or intimidated, or been in receipt of unprofessional behaviour or behaviour of a sexual nature.
Speaking up and raising concerns can be challenging and you will have a number of options open to you.
