Midwifery discipline: Misconduct and negligence

This chapter examines two particular ways in which midwives can be held accountable for their clinical conduct. There are, of course, several distinct kinds of accountability: any employee owes a duty of accountability to his or her employer (such as working in a safe and competent manner, having due regard to others) and an employer, in turn, owes a duty to its employees. This includes providing a safe working environment. This chapter is concerned with what might be termed legal and professional accountability. Legal accountability generally refers to the process of holding to account, which may ultimately end in a court of law, while professional accountability refers to the process of self-regulation accorded to certain occupational groups, and carried out by a legally defined regulatory body.