ABSTRACT
The trust attached to each profession is perhaps associated with the recognition that training is involved, and that there are specific requirements that each professional has to fulfil, e.g. examinations, prior to their being allowed to practise. In addition, each profession has its own code of conduct that all members must observe. The purpose of the code is to ensure, at least in theory, that the interests of the public are protected. Negligence is a major cause of public distrust in a profession. There are a number of ways of defining negligence. Commonly, it could imply carelessness, inattentiveness and omission in attending to one's tasks, or abdication of responsibility. It could be seen as a failure to do one's duty, or a deliberate act to ignore one's obligations, or outright disobedience. The final category of professional negligence is concerned with any conscious acts that tend to dehumanise. From time to time, the public asks whether medicine has lost its humanity.
