History & Development of the Code of Conduct

History and Development

The IHM Management Code was created in 2001, after expectations about the role and quality of healthcare management in the public, private and independent sectors was brought into focus.

Media coverage of exceptional cases of bad healthcare professionals' performance not only dented public confidence in healthcare, it also bruised individual managers and their confidence in a vocation, which had previously been held with such conviction.

The IHM was invited to join a Steering Group chaired by Lord Newton of Braintree convened by the DfEE in 1999. A wide range of organisations considered whether a national code for managers to cover ethics, social and environmental responsibility, diversity and respect for others and lifelong learning should be drafted.

Research indicated that there was general support for the development of a nationally recognised source of guidance for a Management Code for all sizes of organisations in the UK. The IHM Healthcare Management Code was founded on these principles.