Introduction
A stakeholder can be defined as an individual or a group of people having an interest in the success of an organization by seeking to bring about the intended outcomes and preserving the viability of the products or services of the organization. The stakeholders have power over the organization’s products and services as well as the programs (Anon. Interoperability Clearinghouse Glossary of Terms, N.d). In this case, where we are going to consider the socio-technical system, the stakeholders include the FDA, operators, CMC, and the hospitals composing of the medical physicist, doctors among others.
The stakeholder roles, responsibilities, and the relationships among them
Considering the case of treatment, cancer treatment facilities are often found in big hospitals. The hospitals require people who would operate these facilities. If the facility is large, the supervisors of those who operate the machines will be required. More so, a minimum of one medical doctor will be required who is a specialist in cancer radiation therapy, and also, a medical physicist would be required to carry out the maintenance and checking up of the machine regularly. More so, other people such as secretaries, nurses, janitorial staff, and people to deal with billing among others are also needed.
The operators are the people who are responsible for the administering of radiation therapy. The responsibility of the treating doctor is to prescribe and plan the treatment and also to carry out checkups on the patient’s health every week. The responsibility of the Linear Accelerator Operator is basically to see that the treatment that has been prescribed is done in the most appropriate way possible when the patient comes to be treated.
Therefore, the operator is placed in the position of a production assistant since the schedule is put in place by others, ensuring that all the patients put in the schedule for treatment at a particular time get the treatment. More so, the operators bear responsibility to those people who have to be treated to carry out the operation of the machine in a safe way and to handle these people respectfully and with kindness (Anon. Linear Accelerator Operators, N.d).
In the case where there is an occurrence of a significant error -in the process of the operation of the machine during treatment- and the operator is unable to handle this error, most hospitals have a medical physicist and this would have to be called to check the machine within the shortest time possible. In the case where the hospital does not have a physicist who works on a full-time basis, this service may be obtained on a contract basis (Anon. linear Accelerator Treatment Facilities, N.d).
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s “Bureau of Medical Devices and Diagnostic Products” operated in conjunction with the “Medical Devices Amendments” of the year 1976. This was to make sure that medical devices were safe and effective in their use. The FDA had to approve the medical devices before they were to be released to the market to be purchased and be used.
The responsibility of the FDA is to ensure the safety of the public as well as the safety of the users of the medical devices. In responding to the complaints about the use of any particular medical device, the FDA could ask for information from the makers of the device and require a report from them. It makes a declaration of the product as defective and requires a plan for the corrective measures. It then goes ahead to make a public recommendation, that the use of this faulty system on patients ceases going on, and then make a public recall (Anon. FDA, N.d).
Conclusion
The hospitals that run medical linear accelerators are very much concerned about legal responsibility for injury that can be caused on the patients since errors made in the course of treatment can bring about court cases. But it is for the good of the hospital itself to bring down the degree of errors to evade this threat of the court cases. The restarting of the treatment to the patients many times because errors have been brought about in the preceding treatments may cause the patient to totally lose confidence in the hospital and seek medical attention elsewhere where they might be contented with the treatment they acquire.
In conclusion, the professionals in the medical field are in the business of treating people because they are qualified to carry out this since they have the skills and the knowledge. More so, these professionals are in this business since they are in for offering help to people. Therefore, the basic driving force that motivates professionals in the medical field is the welfare of the patients. Every stakeholder should carry out the duties and responsibilities in the most effective way to ensure there is smooth running of the activities to realize the main objective.
Reference
Anon. (N.d). Interoperability Clearinghouse Glossary of Terms. Web.
Anon. (N.d). FDA. Web.
Anon. (N.d). Linear Accelerator Operators. Web.
Anon. (N.d). Linear Accelerator Treatment Facilities. Web.