You Are Here:

Home > The Society > Achieving Our Aims and Objectives > Annual Reports and Accounts > Annual Review 2007 > Boards > Professional Conduct Board & Investigatory Committee [...]

Professional Conduct Board & Investigatory Committee

By Joop Tanis (Chair, Professional Conduct Board) and Chrissie O'Rourke (Regulatory Affairs Manager)

The Professional Conduct Board is the only Board within the Society with a majority of non-psychologist members. On behalf of the Board, the Investigatory Committee considers all matters of concern about the professional conduct of members or their fitness to practise, and appoints Conduct and Fitness to Practise Panels to undertake investigations.

The Society received 115 complaints about members this year. This is higher than the number received in 2006.

Outcomes

	2006	2007
No case of professional misconduct	85	94
Letter of advice under Statute 14(8)	16	13
Closed following Conduct Committee Hearings	7	10

During 2007 there were eight Conduct Committee hearings considering issues including failure to provide reports, lack of competence, inappropriate relationships, failing to address the issue for which a report was commissioned and belittling and being judgemental towards clients. In two cases no misconduct was found. In the remaining cases, misconduct was found and sanctions were imposed. Conditions were imposed on the membership of four members, and two members were expelled, one for breaching conditions earlier imposed.

Analysis of complaints received

43 per cent of complaints during 2007 were made by clients; 13 per cent by professional colleagues; and 44 per cent by other types of complainant.

Time taken to close cases (months)

	0-3	4-6	7-9	10-12	13-18	19-24	2 years +
2006	22	37	16	10	16	5	4
2007	7	55	20	15	8	6

The Investigatory Committee has been running a pilot scheme to evaluate mediation as an alternative to the formal complaints procedure, but the scheme has not so far proved successful.

Changes to the Statutes

On 14 September 2007 changes to the Statutes were implemented which made significant changes to the composition of the Professional Conduct Board and the Investigatory Committee, and to the procedures for deciding whether a complaint should be referred to a Conduct or Health Committee hearing. The changes were made to allow for more flexibility in the procedures and provide non-psychologist representation on the Investigatory Committee and a clearer separation of roles between it and the Professional Conduct Board.

Prior to the changes, the Investigatory Committee was made up entirely of psychologists and a lay member of the Professional Conduct Board considered all recommendations made by the Committee. Under the new Statutes, the Investigatory Committee includes an equal number of psychologist and non-psychologist members and it makes decisions on whether cases should be referred to Conduct or Health Committee hearings, without the involvement of the Professional Conduct Board.

Membership of the Board

The Professional Conduct Board suffered a tragic loss during 2007 when Miss Margaret Packman, the Chair of the Board, died suddenly. She joined the Board in 1993 and was made Chair in 2003. As Chair of the Board she also served on the Board of Trustees. Margaret brought expertise, wisdom and humour to her long contribution to the Society and she is greatly missed by all of her colleagues.

The non-psychologist Professional Conduct Board members are: Mr Joop Tanis (Chair); Mr Paul Archer; Miss Madeleine Craggs; Mr David Kyle CBE; Mr Roger Lucking; Mr Martin O’Reilly; Mr Alistair Papps CB: Mr Phillip Partridge; Mr Brian Price; Dr Dorothy Ward; and Dr Sandy Yule.

The psychologist members of the Board are Professor Vicki Bruce; Professor Chris Cullen; Mr Jonathan Fraise; Professor Geoff Lindsay; Professor Ingrid Lunt; Dr Tommy Mackay; Mrs Margaret McAllister; Professor Steve Newstead; and Professor Zander Wedderburn.

Dr Louis Kramer and Dr Pat Frankish retired from the Board during 2007. Dr Kramer was a former Chair of the Board and Trustee of the Society. The Board is grateful to Dr Kramer and Dr Frankish for their contributions to the work of the Board and the Society.

Membership of the Investigatory Committee

The non-psychologist members of the Investigatory Committee are: Dr Bertie Ellis (Chair); Dr Carol Ackah; Mr Ian Caldwell; Mr Steven Gould; Ms Annie Hitchman; Ms Tessa King; Mr William Nelson and Ms Mary Porter.

The psychologist members of the Committee are Professor Pam Maras; Dr Elizabeth Campbell; Mr Robert Forde; Professor John Hall; Dr Carol Ireland; Mr Nicholas Priestley; Professor Jill Wilkinson and Dr Richard Woolfson.