Our code of conduct – the compass guiding how people will act and interact within our organization – commits the Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa (RCSA) to provide quality services and products in an efficient, professional and courteous manner. We pledge to operate and develop the RCSA on the following values.
With respect and integrity we will develop an ethical culture of trustworthiness, loyalty and equality, where open and honest communication and sincerity is expected; we will subscribe to the values of neutrality, transparency and accountability in all that we do.
We espouse the principles of good governance and financial accountability, to realize sustainable growth and development of our organization, striving for academic, educational and professional credibility and competence.
Our organization is people-centred, student-centred, and customer-centric. Our Instructors and Members are the face of our organization and indeed the source of our strength and potential; we will be supportive of Instructors and available to our Instructor Network and to our clients, continually trying to improve customer service excellence. We value our teams – i.e. the Training Centres, Faculty Members, Administration and Support Teams – who drive and practicably implement the vision of the RCSA.
We will go the extra mile to make our participants feel special, in adult learning environments, and we will do our utmost to achieve excellence – best practice, with continuous attention to improvement in quality in all areas.
Through commitment, dedication and consistency in our conduct, we will promote participation, and will work diligently, via our network, to deliver excellent service. A proactive culture of advocacy, inclusiveness and representivity will motivate all decisions. By stimulating innovation and creativity we will continually strive for new and better ways of doing things.
We value useful and relevant knowledge, supported by sound evidence, where we keep up-to-date with the latest research and evidence-based developments, and share this knowledge firstly with our membership but also to the wider resuscitation community.
The RCSA will strive to be grounded – a proudly African organization that is cognizant of local and regional relevance.
We shall not compromise on:
- Providing excellent quality service
- Fostering a culture of caring
- Promoting service to humanity, via producing and disseminating knowledge
- Engaging in mutually-beneficial partnerships with various stakeholders / communities / groups
- Implementing sound, best-practice teaching-learning principles
- Reflecting honestly on our performance
Conflict of Interest:
The presence of a conflict of interest is independent of the occurrence of impropriety. Therefore, a conflict of interest can be discovered and voluntarily defused before any corruption occurs. Primary interest refers to the principal goals of the profession or activity, such as the protection of clients, the health of patients, the integrity of research, and the duties of public office. Secondary interest includes not only financial gain but also such motives as the desire for professional advancement and the wish to do favours for family and friends, but conflict of interest rules usually focus on financial relationships because they are relatively more objective, fungible, and quantifiable. The secondary interests are not treated as wrong in themselves, but become objectionable when they are believed to have greater weight than the primary interests. The conflict in a conflict of interest exists whether or not a particular individual is actually influenced by the secondary interest. It exists if the circumstances are reasonably believed (on the basis of past experience and objective evidence) to create a risk that decisions may be unduly influenced by secondary interests.
The following provides examples of conditions in which a member should declare an interest that might conflict, or be perceived to conflict, with their responsibilities to the Council:
- Boards or consultancies (paid or not), honoraria, payment for lectures: if directly related to the areas under discussion, these must be declared.
- Equity, ownership: if directly related to the areas under discussion, these must be declared. If you have an investment fund (e.g., pension, ISA) over which you have no control in how the fund is managed, this does not need to be declared.
- Business relationship with a company: if the company’s business can be affected by outcome in areas under consideration, this must be declared.
- Industry funding of research grant: this must be declared unless all of the following criteria are met: there is no salary support, data are controlled by the investigator, and there are no restrictions on publication.
- Charitable funding of research grants: this must be declared unless all of the following criteria are met: there is no salary support, data are controlled by the investigator, and there are no restrictions on publication.
- Anything else that a member believes their participation in discussions and decisions may be perceived by the public or colleagues to be a COI.
COI will be declared on an annual basis by RCSA EXCO members, and record maintained in the minutes of the meeting. The COI declaration will be valid for 1 year.
During discussions, where COI exists, it should be declared. Member should refrain from participating in discussion where they have significant COI.