Names and naming

The PLG for C&P has been thinking about names that describe or label a practise, and I've been wondering about names that designate a person. I have been quite alarmed by the HPC habit of naming people as potentially unfit for practise before their case is heard. In effect this means that someone has their name exposed in some way for more than a year, and this is obviously a harm. I have wondered whether the HPC should apologise when the FTP panel decides there is no case to answer. When writing about these cases I have deliberately not used the registrant's name. The more cases I went to, tho, the more I began to wonder about the anonymity of the other people engaged in the process. To begin with it never occurred to me to include these people's names. But the more I observed, the more I thought about the meaning of a person's name and how that related to the professional nature of their work.

Being a professional, if you take it etymologically, can mean standing by what you say in public. There are other things to say here, but for now this is what I want to think about. The Fitness to Practise hearings are public spectacles. Board meetings are held in public. The PLG is held in public. The Fitness to Practise hearings are written down by a court stenographer who types up the notes and they become a testament to the process. People's names are used in these documents, and the HPC will send them to you if you request them. They are in the public domain. The people are named, and take responsibility for what they say. They are professionals. The lay members are professional in this respect too. Everyone is willing to act in their own name. No-one is 'just following orders'.

The professional liaison group is populated by people who are willing to speak, but some of these are speaking in their own name, others are speaking on behalf of organisations or associations of others. Should they be named in the notes? How should they be named in the notes? How should their contributions be attributed, and what is the responsibility of a blogger in this respect?

Well, I take responsibility for what I write, and I remind you that you can comment on it - this is the nature of a blog. You can also email me easily enough, and I can change what is written if necessary. The new technologies that have sprung up over the last few years give us new pause for thought. Join me in figuring out how to make this work in the spirit of long term public good. You are welcome.