Code of Ethics Assignment Addressing Issues of Ramsay Health Care

Question

Task: Write a reflective journal on computer architecture assignment analysing the theoretical concepts captured from the weekly material.

Answer

Introduction
Ramsay Health Care is one of the best global health care institutions with the image of offering high quality health care services to its patients. The institution is known to provide various kinds of health care needs including complex surgeries, mental health care and others. The company is entitled to hold effective corporate governance policy in health care to provide its staffs and patients with best health services. This is because corporate governance is a set of policies, processes, regulations, laws and others that ensure quality and effective workplace environment. Ramsay Health Care is seen to face number of issues in its workplace that resembles a negative outlook on the governance capability of the institution (Farrell2021). Ramsay has faced discrimination case against it from a couple where the hospital refused to provide an Auslan interpreter for the husband to participate in antenatal classes. In addition to this, the institution also faced complaints of bullying and harassment as a worker issued allegation again several fellow workers of bullying and harassment (Scoop2021). Such corporate governance issues show the poor management decisions for forming code of ethics in Ramsay.

The report drafts a code of ethics for Ramsay Health Care to address issues related to discrimination, exploitation, corruption, dishonest and fraudulent behavior, whistleblower protections and enforcement.

Code of Ethics for Discrimination
Discrimination means treating some patients and employees unfavorably in comparison to other based on certain attributes such as caste, sex, race and others. Ramsay Health Care can avoid such accusation or issues in future with the implementation of their new code of ethics for non-discrimination (Who2021). Code of ethics for discrimination that Ramsay should follow are:

• No discriminatorybehavior should be led by staffs and doctors against each other or towards the patients in regards to race, color, religion, sex and other attributes.
• Value diversity and inclusion in the workplace where Ramsay will hire staffs and doctors on the basis of merits and experience and irrespective of their gender, background and other attributes.
• Ramsay does not permit any discrimination while conducting hiring and recruiting process in the workplace based on any attributes such as gender, race, nationality, religion, age and others.
• There is no tolerance zone for discrimination while hiring staffs and treating patients for any health issues.
• Breach of these guidelines will put the accused under investigation and strict action.
• Ramsay will follow the policy of taking disciplinary actions against people showing discrimination such as termination of employment, negative impact on promotion and growth and others.
• Committed to fair and equal treatment of all its employees and patients that seek opportunities and help from the health care institutions (Schmidt et al. 2017).
• The code related to discrimination applies to all aspect of employment such as hiring, assignments, promotion, compensation, termination, recruitment and discipline.

Code of Ethics for Exploitation
The code of ethics related to exploitation will help Ramsay to control any behavior that negatively impacts the human rights of the staffs and patients. In relation to exploitation, Ramsay will expect all the employees that work with the institution to respect the human rights of each other and maintain an environment where all the staffs and patients are valued and understood(Who 2021). The organization will be committed to act to any kind of human rights violations activities such as exploitative labor practices. New code of ethics for exploitation that follow:

• Condemn the implementation of forced labor or exploit child labor in its workplace environment. The health center does not tolerate any kind of violation against this principle.
• Ramsay does not encourage unequal distribution of power dynamics in the health center or does not exploit the staffs by giving them low payments.
• Sexual exploitation:
  
  • Prohibit any kind of sexual exploitation among staffs and patients and consider such exploitation as serious misconduct.
  • Any act of sexual exploitation may lead to summary dismissal and criminal proceedings and form grounds for disciplinary sanctions.
  • Develop a workplace that encourages trust, responsibility, communication and mutual respect among employees and patients in the health units.
  • Any suspicion of sexual exploitation must be immediately reported to the risk management and ethics department of the health care center (LEAS 2015).
• Health care staffs in Ramsay must never:
  
  • Indulge in sexually exploiting any individual.
  • Consumer, purchase or suggest any consumption of dangerous drugs or medicine to the patients.
  • Exploit the staffs and patients from vulnerable groups in relation to development, humanitarian and treatments.
  • Never give any kind of preferential treatment to a section of patients in exchange for sexual favors, gifts, payments or any kind of advantages.
  • None of the health center staffs should engage in sexual relationships with any kind of colleagues or co-workers.

Code of Ethics for Corruption
With code of ethics for corruption it will be seen that Ramsay do not tolerate any kind of corruption such as gifts, bribes or payment nor it accepts advantages that leads to compromising the objectivity of the institution (Whitepages2021). The company will have code of ethics in line to help minimize the chances of any kind of corruption in the behavior. Code of ethics for corruption will follow:

• No allowance for exchange of money except in the time of honest business transactions.
• The staffs are not allowed to engage in any kind of misusing of funds or property of the institution.
• Comply with all kinds of anti0-bribery and anti-corruption laws that helps in conducting health service provision in a true manner.
• Zero tolerance policy with the respect to corruption and bribery.
• Corrupt employees in the healthcare center will be liable to civil and criminal penalties and fines and may also lead to severe outcomes such as termination and legal actions.
• All treatments should be conducted based on devised policies and processes and committed in a fair manner.
• The decision for treatment and other business decisions should be taken based on price, quality and service and not on any other personal factors.
• The examples of conduct that may be considered as corrupt act in the health center of Ramsay are:

• Accept anything without clear business reasons and not required in the present circumstances.
• Use of related party such as relative to give or take anything of value.
• Give anything of value that is not recorded by Ramsay health care books.

These codes are formed with the notion that any kind of perception of corruption is considered harm to the reputation of the health centers and lead to wrong doing.

Code of Ethics for Dishonest and Fraudulent Behavior
Dishonest and fraud behavior is considered as misappropriation act that leads to violation of trust of employees and patients towards the institution and establishes future investigation (Whitepages 2021).

• Encourage the reporting of wrongdoing in the health center such as fraud, negligence, dishonesty and disrespectful behavior.
• Employees are encouraged to be transparent and honest is all their activities when dealing with health treatments.
• The excess budget is re-allocated in different activities of the health center in a transparent way.
• Zero toleration for any kind of white-collar crime such as filing dishonest healthcare claims for achieving profits.
• Fraud and abuse audit program held by the compliance department is responsible for the investigation of any real or potential fraudulent action.
• All health staffs, vendors are expected to refrain themselves from any conduct that can be defined as fraud and abuse act such as:
  • Distribution of unsafe products to the patients with the aim to reduce the cost and increase profit of the health center.
  • Suggestion of costly medicine to the patients to take commission or profit from partnered medical centers.
  • Any decisions related to billing and transaction should be conducted after contact with the compliance department to prevent any kind of fraud or dishonest behavior.
  • Training the managers and providers of the compliance department to effectively prevent fraud, detect fraud and report fraud in time.
  • Any act that leads to falsifying of records or misrepresenting facts is considered as fraud and result in criminal liability for the company (Zimmerli et al. 2007).

Code of Ethics for Whistleblower Protections
The code of ethics related to whistleblower protections helps in providing avenue to the employees in the workplace to report bullying and harassment in an effective way. Whistleblower Protection service in Ramsay will provide the employees and patients an avenue to report experienced harassment and bullying activities (WTO 2021a).

• Fair call service that allow employees and patients to report any instances of harassment and bullying they face in the institution or while taking the service.
• Concerns raised through the fair call system will be taken seriously and out under investigation and highly respecting the confidentiality of everyone involved.
• Managers in the health center has the responsibility to solve all the complaints of harassment and bullying received using the principles of natural justice.
• Supervisors and management that receive any case of wrongdoing are expected to act immediately and promptly and seek advice on ethics and other mechanisms.
• There is both formal and informal options available for the staffs to address complaints and issue and advice on the system can be seemed from the compliance team through email.
• The whistleblower policy of Ramsay is implemented through certain steps such as:
  
  • Reporting mechanisms
  • Ethics advice
  • Investigation

Anyone in Ramsay that violates the policy related to whistleblower protection or pass on their responsibilities to other subordinates shall be subject to disciplinary actions.

Code of Ethics for Enforcement
Enforcement of policies is yet another concern that needs to be included in code of ethics of the business. The objective of the enforcement procedures and conducts is formed to ensure fairness to all the individuals in the health center who may be facing complaints or any workplace issues. The enforcement policy is important to respond to complaint, effective supplying of information to identify the suspect and complaints received, provide information about the victim of the crime and report emergency situation. Enforcement of the standards of the code of conduct should be done according to a specific process. The new code of ethics related to enforcement in Ramsay are:

• To offer sufficient information and factual allegations to conduct preliminary enquiry effectively.
• The compliance department should offer timely remediation in relation to the complaints received to be able to solve the issues.
• Timely interviewing the complainant, the subject and the designated member of the health department and any witness if available.
• Timely reviewing of documents provided at the time of complaints by the complainant and witnesses.
• The appropriate action should be taken effectively after investigation and in accordance to the relevant laws.

The enforcement procedures of Ramsay make sure that all the code of ethics is effectively in the health units. It helps in ensuring compliance and is maintained by the compliance committee. This document articulates all the procedures for enforcement and the duties of the employees of Ramsay to enforce the code and ethics effectively.

Summary
The overall policies and procedures in relation to various areas of code of ethics such as discrimination, exploitation, corruption, fraud, whistleblower protections and enforcement is formed to make sure that the employment in Ramsay is valued and the patients receive the best value for their service. Moreover, the document of code of ethics helps in fostering diversity and diversity in the organizational culture of Ramsay. The code of ethics related to various areas also help the business to comply with the laws and human rights of the people both the staffs and patients. The policies will reduce the chances of harassment and discrimination in the health center and save Ramsay from the accusation that it has been facing recently. There has been instances of discrimination in the workplace with the patients and new code of ethics will help handle such instances and prevent it from occurring in future. Moreover, the whistleblower protection code will enable investigation effectively and reduce employee related complaints in future in Ramsay. Thus, the codes and policies help in formalizing the complaint system and help Ramsay to ensure that all doctors and staffs work in a respectful environment free from bullying and harassment. It will also give patients a supportive environment for their treatment.

References
Farrell, P., 2021. Mother Refused Interpreter For Deaf Husband Sues Ramsay Health Group. [online] the Guardian. Available at: [Accessed 20 January 2021]. LEAS, M., 2015.Code of Conduct. Pp. 1-25.

Schmidt, B.J., MacWilliams, B.R. and Neal-Boylan, L., 2017.Becoming inclusive: a code of conduct for inclusion and diversity. Journal of Professional Nursing, 33(2), pp.102-107.

Scoop, 2021. RACS, Ramsay Health Sign Mou To Improve Respectful Culture | Scoop News. [online] Scoop.co.nz. Available at: [Accessed 20 January 2021].

Whitepages, 2021. Ramsay Health Care Code Of Conduct. [online] S0.whitepages.com.au. Available at: [Accessed 20 January 2021].

Who, 2021.Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct [online] Who.int. Available at: [Accessed 20 January 2021].

Who, 2021a. WHO Whistleblowing And Protection Against Retaliation. [online] Who.int. Available at: [Accessed 20 January 2021].

Zimmerli, W.C., Richter, K. and Holzinger, M., 2007. Corporate ethics and corporate governance.Springer.