Litigation and the practitioner - part 3

Accountability is fundamental to professionalism. It is concerned with the readiness to have one’s actions, decisions, and failures to act, to be questioned; to explain why departures from reasonable expectations of peers may have occurred; and to respond responsibly with candour when errors in behaviour or judgment have been made. In this respect it is important to remember that ‘An apology, an offer of treatment or other redress, shall not of itself amount to an admission of negligence or breach of statutory duty’.¹

This series concentrates on the accountability of the optometric/optical practitioner in England, however many aspects have similarities, or indeed apply in other parts of the UK, and to business registrants of the General Optical Council (GOC). It is not a substitute for formal legal counsel. This article will briefly cover two of four key areas of accountability of the practitioner, before going on to cover in later articles civil litigation – the fifth key area of accountability.