| Professions What does authorisation entail? Authorisation is tended to ensure that practitioners are in possession of the necessary relevant qualifications. The main aim of authorisation is to ensure the patients' safety. The professional titles (see Health Personnel Act, section 48) is protected. Persons lacking authorisation or licence may not lay claim to the title or any title which may give the impression that the person in question is an authorised practitioner. Nevertheless authorisation does not preclude other persons from performing tasks which are integral to the particular profession in question, but the employer assumes a special responsibility by employing unauthorised personnel to perform such tasks. Authorisation entails independent and personal responsibility for the responsible performance of duties which call for high professional and ethical standards on the part of the licencee. It includes responsibility for keeping professionally up to date and desisting from providing medical assistance in areas which the licencee does not master or in which she/he does not possess competence. Professional secrecy is grounded in legislation and applies directly to authorised persons. See also concerning rights and duties in the Health Personnel Act.
The Health Personnel Act forms part of a major health legislation reform. The Act has been formulated in close association with the new Specialist Health Services Act, the Mental Health Act (not currently available in English translation), and the Patients Rights Act. These four Acts comprise a whole which affects the interpretation of each individual Act, and the scope of the rights and duties laid down in legislation and regulations. The Norwegian Registration Authority for Health Personnel (SAFH) wishes to point out that it is the personal responsibility of health personnel to ensure that their activities are in conformity with current legislation and regulations. We would therefore urge that these Acts be read and interpreted in context.
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