Medical Ethics and Law 1 Flashcards
Four domains of the GMC’s Good Medical Practice
Knowledge, skills and performance
Safety and quality
Communication, partnership and teamwork
Maintaining trust
GDPR
New General Data Protection Regulations
Based around 6 data protection principles and provides a range of rights for individuals
Personal data is defined by the GDPR as…
any information related to an identified or identifiable natural person
The data protection principles of GDPR state that personal data must…
Be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner
Be processed for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not in any manner incompatible with those purposes
Be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes
Be accurate and up to date
Must not be kept for longer than is necessary
Be secure
Situations in which confidentiality can be breached
With the patient’s consent With other medical practitioners in the patient’s interest Statutory requirements* (e.g. in court) Protection of other persons** In the public interest*** Child abuse
- prevention, detection and prosecution of serious crime
- *e.g. if someone has been assaulted, the attacker may assault someone else so the police should be told
- **terrorism, murder, culpable homicide, rape
The GMC is regulated by…
The Professional Standards Authority
Responsibilities of the GMC
To produce the medical register (its membership)
To oversee and certify the appropriateness of medical education
To ensure doctors are fit to practice (by publishing Good Medical Practice - its ethical and professional guidance)
Medical negligence
A lack of reasonable skill and care as a result of which the patient suffers
Consequentialism teaches that…
The moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome
Deontology
The opposite of consequentialism
The morality of an action is based on weather the action itself is right or wrong
Utilitarianism
A type of consequentialism
Aims to maximise pleasure/ happiness and minimise pain/ unhappiness for the individual and society as a whole
“the greatest good for the greatest number”
Autonomy
definition and concepts based on it
Promotes the right to self determination
the basis for confidentiality, informed consent and capacity
Considerations within the principle of justice
Fairness/equity (e.g. non-discrimination)
Individual vs. population (e.g. rationing, there are finite resources in the NHS)
The law
When does life begin according to the HFEA (human fertilisation and embryology authority) act?
At 14 days when the primitive streak appears
Before this point the embryo could divide to form twins so cannot be considered ONE life
After this point embryo testing cannot be performed
UK age of viability
24 weeks
birth before = miscarriage
birth after = preterm birth (so must resuscitate)
Euthanasia definition
the deliberate taking of another person’s life to relieve their suffering
Assisted suicide definition
the situation where a competent person ends their own life but with the assistance of another person to perform the act, for example by providing the means to do so
advanced decision
details treatment refusal where it would not be possible to communicate wishes
Treatments being refused and the situation must be named
Legally binding