"Membership is drawn from the disciplines of clinical physiology, clinical technology (which includes medical physics and clinical engineering), cardiology, medical illustrators and photographers".
To be fair Neil, when you lump together all the diverse groups that The Alliance For Patient Safety includes, the figure must approach 10,000. (On paper, I think the VRCT must have at least 3500 members).
The Alliance For Patient Safety represents the aspirations of its members, much like the VRCT. (I don’t have any issue at all over this premise). What I do take issue with, is the way in which they imply that those who are not part of their alliance, the unregulated professionals are subjecting thousands of patients a year to risk.
The term "professional" is defined as
Adj.1. a. Of, relating to, engaged in, or suitable for a profession: lawyers, doctors, and other professional people.
b. Conforming to the standards of a profession: professional behaviour.
2. Engaging in a given activity as a source of livelihood or as a career: a professional writer.
3. Performed by persons receiving pay: professional football.
4. Having or showing great skill; expert: a professional repair job.
The term "unregulated" is defined as
Adj. 1. unregulated - not regulated; not subject to rule or discipline; "unregulated off-shore fishing"
regulated - controlled or governed according to rule or principle or law; "well regulated industries"; "houses with regulated temperature"
2. unregulated - without regulation or discipline; "an unregulated environment"
unstructured - lacking definite structure or organization; "an unstructured situation with no one in authority"; "a neighbourhood gang with a relatively unstructured system"; "children in an unstructured environment often feel insecure"; "unstructured inkblots"
It appears that the phrase "unregulated professional" is contradictory, and insulting. The implication is that anyone not registered with its constituent groups are putting patients lives at risk.
Before VRCT members signed up, were they subjecting thousands of patients a year to risk? Look at your colleagues who are not VRCT members, do they subject patients to risk, by virtue of non-membership of the VRCT?
The viewpoint expressed may be deemed indicative of the esteem in which the Alliance For Patient Safety, and the VRCT views non-members, and thus an overview of our Biomedical profession as a whole.
