My Medical Choice Private Members’ Association

Constitution

What is My Medical Choice?

My Medical Choice (hereafter referred to as MMC) is an unincorporated association or private members’ club for the men and women of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. MMC is open to all who wish to join as long as they share our collective values of total bodily autonomy in all medical-related matters and agree to respect the privacy of other members unconditionally.

Aims

The aim of MMC is to provide and maintain a national online service that seeks to educate and support members in dealing with issues affecting access to healthcare and to act at all times in accordance with the law of the land. As such, all the content produced by and for MMC is intended purely for educational purposes, omissions and errors excepted; the material and/or content on this website and in our downloadable publications is not to be construed as legal or lawful advice.

As a non-profit organisation, we also aim to use funds raised to support other organisations and causes whose values align with our own and whose services may be of benefit to our members. Long-term goals include building a national healthcare advocacy service of professionally trained volunteers that can support our members in a clinical setting, such as pre-operative hospital consultations.

Associate structure

As a private members’ association, MMC has its own internal operating procedures implemented by the office bearers and founder members. MMC is a non-profit organisation that operates in the private and rejects all public scrutiny and interference.

MMC procedures

Items such as managing administration, appointing office bearers, managing membership rules and members’ conduct, etc., is to be published in an internal document available to members upon request. (please note that procedures may be subject to change in accordance with the rules in the section Changes to the Constitution).

Management Committee structure and office bearers

MMC has the following committee structure made up of founding members serving in the following roles for the current period:

Additional role (non founding member):

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The MMC AGM is a formal meeting attended by all office bearers that is held annually to decide procedures and address issues for the coming year. Any member may submit details of issues they would like raised up to one calendar month prior to the date set for the AGM, and founding members will decide whether or not such a submission is suitable for inclusion as an item for discussion on the agenda. Decisions are taken based on the majority vote and office bearers are normally appointed for a one-year term. Amendments to procedures are to be decided by a two-thirds approval vote by founder members at an Extraordinary General Meeting if an AGM is not appropriate.

Requirements for membership and MMC code of conduct

Equity statement

Members must be over the age of 18 years and are required to agree to the terms of this Constitution upon joining MMC. Membership is automatic once the membership donation has been processed, and therefore MMC does not discriminate against any member based on unlawful grounds such as race, religion, age or other protected characteristic.

MMC aims to ensure no members will be harassed, abused or intimidated on the ground of his or her race, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, disability or age. Incidents of harassment will be taken seriously.

Privacy

Members agree unconditionally that they are responsible for the safety of their own data and their own conduct with respect to any interactions with other members. Members also agree unconditionally to keep confidential any information shared between other members and that the privacy of ALL members is an absolute right and is to be respected for the entire term of membership and in perpetuity thereafter, which constitutes a Non-Disclosure Agreement between the parties that comes into force at the point of subscribing to the service.

Respect for members’ privacy is particularly relevant when using services such as the national blood donor database, and details provided by member donors is not to be shared with non-members under any circumstances – with the exception of emergency services and relevant NHS staff, as well as a member’s ICE or medical guardian in the event of an emergency where contacting a donor for a possible transfusion may be necessary.

Safety

Members are reminded to exercise caution when adding their details to the national blood donor database and provide only the necessary information required, and to use sound judgement when talking to potential donors in their area, as it is the sole responsibility of members to ascertain the bona fides and suitability of potential donors.

Member input

Although not essential as a membership requirement, MMC welcomes input from members on how to improve the service, and a random selection of MMC members may be approached prior to the AGM regarding the topics up for discussion for their input and suggestions.

Membership structure

There are only two types of members: founder members and general members.

Founder members were involved in creating and funding MMC and are known personally to each other and have established a connection of trust. Currently only founder members can be appointed to office bearer roles and attend AGMs to ensure the safety and privacy of all other members.

General members have no obligations as to the running and maintenance of MMC and are required only to subscribe annually in order to use the service and to act in accordance with the code of conduct.

Discipline of members

Should a member breach the code of conduct, act in a manner that brings MMC into disrepute, or act unlawfully, then a decision will be made by the founder members to either send the member a written warning, and/or suspend that member pending a formal investigation or, should the member’s actions be deemed serious, revoke their membership with immediate effect.

Members who have acted unlawfully may be reported to the relevant authorities by the founder members. Members who breach the confidentiality of another member, may be subject to legal action should the wronged party decide to sue in a personal capacity.

Failure to pay annual subscriptions after reminders have been sent will result in the member’s account being closed. However, the Non-Disclosure Agreement aspect of the membership continues in perpetuity.

MMC finances

The management of and responsibility for the handling of membership donations lies with the treasurer. As a non-profit organisation, donations will be used to fund services provided by MMC and reimburse the costs incurred in building the database, establishing the service, and other costs related to the setup and running of MMC.

Aside from settling monies owed, any requests for large disbursement will normally require the approval of a two-thirds majority, and these will be accounted for as items on the agenda at the AGM.

Changes to the Constitution

Changes to the Constitution may be proposed at any time by the following members:

Proposed changes are to be agreed in a meeting involving all three Management Committee members and will require a two-thirds majority.

Notice of agreed changes will be provided to general members within one month of the decision via publication on the website blog/noticeboard, via email updates, or by another appropriate form of media and/or correspondence.

Correspondence address: My Medical Choice, 509 Fulham Road, LONDON SW6 1HH