Is it not possible to cut the budget before cutting people out? A peer mentioned, “reducing staff which medical professionals tell me will prevent them from delivering the best service possible.” It is unethical to knowingly cut down the staff when it would adversely affect the health care provided to the patients. As stated in the BCS (2015) Code of Conduct this move is not in alignment with the public interest. Also, in the long run, it would affect the reputation of NHS as the quality of service would go down. As an IT professional, we commit not to act in a manner that would harm their reputation or employment.
In this case, what NHS requires is to act accordingly the ethics theory of Utilitarianism, where they need to put the interest and well-being of the patients before themselves or anything else.
Does the NHS have any code of conduct in place that deals and justifies downsizing of staff? Is this act by the GMC code of conduct or does GMC take notice of such incidents if a complaint is made?
References:
BCS (2015) Code of Conduct for BCS Members. Available at: http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/conduct.pdf (Accessed: 20 January 2018).
