Ethics Committee Code of Conduct

1. Dr Foster will take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted material including pictures.
2. Whenever it is recognised that a significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distorted report has been published, Dr Foster will take steps to promptly correct it.

Privacy

3. Dr Foster retains the right to publish information that is in the public domain and which identifies individuals who provide healthcare services.
4. Where Dr Foster publishes private information about an individual it will only do so where it has the consent of the individual.

Legality and compliance with regulation

1. Dr Foster will comply with the law and with relevant regulations including the Press Complaints Commission code of conduct in respect to its dealing with newspapers.

Impartiality

6. Dr Foster has no political affiliations.
7. No organisations with a direct interest in pharmaceuticals, medical devices or the provision of healthcare is permitted to own shares in Dr Foster above 1% of the total issued share capital.
8. Dr Foster may produce publications that include advertising or sponsorship from companies with an interest in healthcare. Where this happens, the sponsors or advertisers will have no editorial control, except in the circumstances described in clause ix).
9. In some circumstances, Dr Foster may chose to share editorial control with a sponsoring organisation, such as a medical charity or a patient support group, where the sponsoring organisation has significant authority and expertise in the subject of the publication. In these circumstances, any sharing of editorial control will be made explicit in the publication. The Ethics Committee will be informed in advance of any such arrangement and their guidance sought.
10. Dr Foster may also seek sponsorship for individual research projects. Where it does so, it will refer such research projects to the Ethics Committee for approval that the research is in the interests of patients.
11. Dr Foster will conduct research in an ethical fashion. In collecting information Dr Foster researchers will identify to any subject of research the scope and aim of the research project subject to the exclusions in clause xii).
12. Dr Foster may from time to time conduct research through mystery shopping exercises in which researchers will pose as members of the public in order to test the quality of service provision. Mystery shopping exercises will only be conducted when there is a clear public interest in collecting the information and there is no suitable alternative method of research available.
13. Research that reveals failings in the provision of healthcare services to the public will be regarded as being in the public interest.
14. Where Dr Foster conducts mystery shopping research, it will first submit the research proposal to the Ethics Committee for approval.
15. In all research conducted by Dr Foster or on behalf of Dr Foster, patient confidential information will be handled securely.

Complaints handling

16. Dr Foster will respond promptly to complaints, acknowledging any complaint providing a response within 20 days of the complaint being received.
17. Complainants will be advised of their rights to pursue their complaint through the Ethics Committee if they are not satisfied with the response from Dr Foster.
18. Dr Foster will refer complaints to the Ethics Committee where it believes the complaint is sufficiently serious.

Adjudication of complaints

19. On receipt of a complaint the Ethics Committee will require Dr Foster to produce a defence of its actions within a reasonable time frame. The Ethics Committee may then seek further information from both complainant and Dr Foster to support their positions. It will then judge on the balance of probabilities whether the code of conduct has been infringed.
20. Complaining to the Dr Foster Ethics Committee does not in any way alter any party's statutory rights.
21. The adjudication of any complaint will be made public on the Dr Foster website.
22. Complainants will only be identified in the published adjudication if they wish to be identified.