Hot Topics Flashcards
Antibiotic resistance what, example, improvement?
- Antibiotic resistance describes the ongoing process that leads to bacteria becoming more and more resistant to commonly used antibiotics. This happens because of natural selection. Antibiotics kill bacteria - except those which have mutations making them resistant. These then multiply and become the dominant strain.
- MRSA This is predominantly transmitted in hospitals and is resistant to commonly used antibiotics such as penicillin. As bacteria become more resistant, we are also finding it harder to find new antibiotics that are distinct from those thathave already been discovered.
- To deal with this issue, it is important to know when to prescribe antibiotics and when not to do so. In particular, doctors ought to be cautious - only using them when needed. Patients also need to use them responsibly, always finishing the course that has been prescribed.
Is abortion legal in the uk
Abortion is legal in the UK up to 24 weeks of pregnancy (12 weeks in Northern Ireland) with the approval of two doctors if the continuing pregnancy is of greater risk to the life or health of the mother or any existing children.
What can the termination of the pregnancy be
Termination of pregnancy can be a medical abortion or a surgical abortion, depending on circumstances specific to the patient.
Are conscientious objections by doctors allowed
Conscientious objections by doctors are allowed except in cases where a patient’s life is at risk. Clinicians are still obligated to refer to a practitioner who can offer an abortion.
Abortion is allowed after 24 weeks (12 in Northern Ireland) only if:
The person’s life is in danger
The foetus has a severe abnormality
The woman is at risk of significant physical and/or mental injury
For abortion
- bodily autonomy - the right of a patient to decide what should happen to, and within their own body. this right outweighs the limited rights of an embryo that is not yet a conscious or sentient human being and cannot survive outside of the mother’s uterus.
- it is important to have the right to remove yourself from the risks associated with the situation even if this leads to the death of another person.
- In places where abortion is illegal, it still happens. It is just unsafe and riskier, happening in backstreet clinics or with homemade methods. Given this, greater reproductive rights keep people safe from botched abortions that kill thousands each year.
Against abortion
Human life begins at conception
Babies can be put up for adoption or foster care
Abortion carries physical and mental risks
What is a buffer zone
A ‘buffer zone’ around clinics is a legal minimum distance from them within which abortion protestors are not allowed.
Argument against buffer zone
This brings up questions of the conflict between a patient’s right to access free and safe abortion care, and the public’s right to freedom of speech and freedom to protest. Opponents of buffer zones argue that the law restricts their right to express their beliefs.
7 day NHS
Currently, emergency treatment can of course be accessed on any day of the week.
However, a 7-day NHS aims to expand this in some key ways.
First, it aims to ensure that the same quality of care is provided on any day at any time - meaning that appointments with consultants and tests are more available at night or on weekends. Second, it seeks to provide GP appointments in the evenings and on weekends which most GP practises currently do not do.
Alfie evans
Alfie Evans was born in May 2016. Initially healthy, he was admitted to a hospital in December 2016 and diagnosed with an unidentified degenerative neurological condition. After spending over a year in a semi-vegetative state, his parents wanted to fly him to Italy in the hopes of further treatment which may have extended his life for an undefined period of time. His doctors believed that it was more humane to turn off his life support.
Hadiza Bawa Garba
Six-year-old Jack Adcock was admitted to a hospital on February 18th 2011, and died of pneumonia on the same day. Dr Bawa-Garba was found to be responsible and convicted for manslaughter by gross negligence.
As his doctor, Dr Bawa-Garba made numerous errors - for instance, not recording cessation of his medication in his notes and mistaking his notes for those of another patient with a DNAR order.
The hospital system made further errors, however. Dr Bawa-Garba was doing the work of two doctors, and there were no senior consultants or nurses on site. Nurses did not notify her of Jack’s deteriorating condition, and hospital computer systems were down for part of the day which delayed blood tests.
Dr Bawa-Garba was at one point struck off the medical register and barred from practising medicine, however, she was later reinstated following an appeal. Currently, she is practising medicine without restrictions - though at a lower rank than she was before her suspension.
Harold shipman
Harold Shipman was a GP in the UK who murdered over 200 patients between 1970 and 1998. He injected them with lethal doses of painkillers and specifically killed patients whose deaths would not arouse suspicion - for instance, the elderly or critically ill.
It was only when the daughter of one of his victims refused to accept the given explanation for her mother’s death that he was investigated and his crimes uncovered.
Charlie Gard
Charlie Gard was born in 2016 with the rare condition encephalomyopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome. He was born seemingly healthy, but quickly deteriorated and needed to be put on a ventilator.
His parents wished to keep him on life support and take him to the US for treatment, however, his doctors and other experts thought that this would only prolong his suffering as the treatment couldn’t help someone with a condition as advanced as his.
Eventually, a US doctor flew to the UK and told Charlie’s parents that the treatment would no longer be able to help him. They conceded the case, and his life support was later switched off. The Charlie Gard case drew into question important topics about whether parents or doctors should have the final say in divisive cases such as this one.
Lucy letby case
Lucy Letby, a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital, was convicted for the tragic deaths of several infants in the neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016.
Her actions, which involved deliberately harming the babies under her care, have become one of the most alarming breaches of trust within the NHS, prompting widespread concern about patient safety and the ethical standards upheld by healthcare professionals.
The case serves as a stark reminder of the importance of vigilance, communication, and ethical practice in the medical field. As the details of the case unfolded, it highlighted the critical role of whistleblowing, the duty of hospital management to address concerns promptly, and the overarching need for trust within the healthcare system.
Th Francis report and mid Staffordshire report
Between 2005-2008, there were “conditions of appalling care” at Stafford hospital. This led to the avoidable deaths of between 400-1200 patients and harmed thousands more. This scandal, commonly known as the “Mid Staffordshire scandal” because the hospital is run by the Mid Staffordshire NHS trust, arose in no small part due to poor decision-making and cost-cutting measures.
This led to horrific practises such as junior doctors being left alone at night, patients not being given food or water, and receptionists being expected to evaluate patients in A&E. The Francis report details this and recommends provisions to ensure that it never happens again.
What is euthanasia
For active euthanasia, the physician is the one who commits the act that directly causes death i.e. by injecting lethal drugs.
Assisted dying
Assisted dying: This is a sub-term of assisted suicide but is only used in the context of when a patient who is already dying, i.e. terminally ill, asks for help to die.
Are euthanasia and assisted dying legal
They are illegal under English law
Arguments for Euthanasia
- Relieves the suffering of patients with terminal illnesses.
2.International availability means that patients with the means to, may access this abroad, thereby causing an equality divide in who is able to access euthanasia.
3.Respects the autonomy of a patient with a terminal illness.
