Managing medical deviance: Organisational responses in the UK private healthcare sector

This thesis explores how noncriminal professional misconduct by doctors, referred to as medical deviance, is perceived and managed in the UK’s private healthcare sector. Unlike much of the existing literature, which focuses on criminal acts or regulatory failures, this study examines behaviours that breach professional norms without constituting criminal offences, such as inappropriate communication, poor clinical judgement, or unsafe prescribing. Through qualitative interviews with private healthcare professionals, the research investigates how organisations define acceptable conduct, manage deviance, and navigate power dynamics in their responses. The concept of medical deviance is developed to offer a cohesive framework for understanding how private healthcare providers address these behaviours amid commercial pressures and regulatory constraints. This thesis contributes to sociological and criminological discussions of professional misconduct, highlighting the complexities of regulating clinical conduct beyond criminal or statutory boundaries and laying the groundwork for future research and policy developments.