Towards a Unitary Code of Ethics for the Healthcare Professions of the New Multiprofessional Order
Daniele Rodriguez
The Law 11 January 2018 n. 3 has modified the discipline of the Orders of health professions and has introduced new rules on the deontological codification that belongs to the Orders. The Law n. 3 has created a new Order that includes the 19 professions that refer to the three different areas of rehabilitation, technical-health and prevention techniques. Among the complex questions concerning the institution of this new multi-professional Order, is that of the code of ethics: unique for the whole Order or a different code of ethics for each profession? Each of the pre-existing associations representing the various professions now part of the multi-professional Order, as well as the College of Medical Technicians of Medical Radiology, had developed its own deontological code. The analysis of the Law n. 3 highlights that the option to be privileged is that of a single code of ethics. Its layout would however involve some problems. The question of how to safeguard the autonomy and the identity of each of the 19 professions in the context of a unitary code of ethics is examined and some solutions are proposed. The topic of responsibility, considered, also in relation to the Law 8 March 2017 n. 24, in the double meaning of commitment in the interests of health of the person and of the susceptibility to respond from a disciplinary point of view in the case of reprehensible conduct is analyzed.
Keywords
Orders of health professions, Codes of Ethics, Autonomy, Identity, Responsibility.