Conduct Committee Hearing: Dr Kenneth John Aitken Findings

A Conduct Committee appointed by The British Psychological Society met on Tuesday 30 March 2004 to hear allegations of professional misconduct against Dr Kenneth John Aitken, a Graduate Member of the Society.

Dr Aitken admitted he conducted himself in a manner which breached Clauses 1 and 5 of the Society's Code of Conduct.

Specifically it was proven that Dr Aitken failed to have a system in place to ensure that he completed reports on time, despite several reminders from the complainants.

The Committee also found he allowed his professional responsibilities or standards of practice to be diminished by considerations of extraneous factors. Specifically he failed to provide a report within a reasonable time period, with a delay of one year between the request for the report and the receipt of it.

The Committee's ruling was that Dr Aitken should be severely reprimanded, and that he will be required to forward to the Society a report from his supervisors at intervals of six months for a period of two years commencing from today.

The allegations were referred to the Conduct Committee by the Society's Investigatory Committee. The Conduct Committee consisted of two non-psychologist representatives from other professional and regulatory bodies, plus one past-President of the Society.