New report on self-governance of health professions in Ukraine calls for public participation and accountability
Fri 22 September 2023
Today academics at the University of Edinburgh (Dr Annie Sorbie, Dr Mark Hellowell, Dr Edward Dove, Ruby Reed-Berendt) and Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Dr Radmyla Hrevtsova), have published a new policy brief: ‘Towards Self Governance for Healthcare Professions in Ukraine’. This reflects findings from a jointly hosted seminar, which brought together legislators, regulatory stakeholders, patient and professional advocacy groups and academics, from Ukraine and the UK, to discuss a draft Bill which aims to deliver a mandatory framework for the self-governance of healthcare professions (including doctors, nurses, pharmaceutical professions and allied health professions). Key themes that emerged included the purpose of the legislation and its communication to stakeholders, efforts to tackle political interference and corruption and the need for transparency and public accountability. The brief points to a number of policy considerations going forward, including that:
- The purpose of self-governance should be communicated to professionals, patients, and broader society to enable dialogue on the proposed Bill, and how this will be implemented.
- The powers that will be delegated to the new Chambers should be clearly defined, and steps taken to ensure that they have the legal competence and resources required to execute those powers.
- Over time, thought should be given as to what extent, and in what ways, consistency in approach between the professional Chambers can be encouraged and facilitated.
- Alongside enhanced ethical and performance standards, over time consideration should also be given to how learning from mistakes can be encouraged, alongside enhanced public-facing information on activities and outcomes.
- To be sustainable, a system of self-governance must ensure transparency in its decision-making processes, and accountability to the professions, patients, and publics. In particular, new mechanisms for ensuring patient and public involvement in self-governance may need to be facilitated to achieve long-term public trust in, and support for, the self-governance arrangements.
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