23-09-21 - Introduction to Medical Ethics

Question 1

Why is trust important when dealing with patients?

What can result if trust is broken?

Answer 1

• Trust is important for encouraging healthy doctor-patient relationships.
• Patients come to healthcare professionals with deeply personal issues
• It is a duty of doctors to maintain confidentiality to make the patients feel safe and cared for.
• This breach of trust and confidentiality can also result in problems for your medical career and legal trouble.
• If trust is broken, this can also cause media to get involved, leading to poor public image of yourself and your community.

Question 2

What are the roles of the GMC?

Answer 2

• The GMCs roles are set out in the medical act 1983 and covers 5 areas:
• Maintaining medical register
• Upholding standards for doctors through Good medical practise guidelines
• Education and training
• Revalidation
• Addressing concerns

Question 3

What are the 4 domains of The Duties of a Doctor from the GMCs good medical practise?

What are a doctors first concern?

Who is accountable for your actions?

Answer 3

• Knowledge, skills, and performance – The first concern of doctors is the care of their patients.
• Safety and Quality
• Communication, partnership, and teamwork
• Maintaining trust
• You are personally accountable for your professional practise and must always be prepared to justify your decisions and actions

Question 4

What is medical ethics?

What are questions asked in terms of law when concerning treatment of patients?

What is ethics?

Answer 4

• Medical ethic is the application of ethical reasoning when making decisions about a patient’s treatment
• What is obligated? What is prohibited? What is permitted? Must be asked in terms of law
• Ethics, or moral philosophy, is the study of how we ought to live: values, principles, rules.