Question that come up every year Flashcards
NHS Hot Topics
Why is it important to reduce A&E waiting times?
Humanitarian Reason:
- you do not want patients potentially in a lot of pain to wait a long time for them to see a doctor and get treatment.
- their condition while waiting could get worse, especially if it is a critical condition
- If ambulance crews arrive at A&E and the department is full, backup will occur where the crew won’t be able to offload the patient and and get back on the road.
Staff Reason:
- under pressure staff, stressed out
- may cut corners with patients, treat them too quickly, and may not deliver their best performance when it comes to treating the patient.
- staff burnout
What can be done to reduce A&E waiting times?
create a service where non-A&E patients could get help for instance the 111 service. They can get the right advice and treatment when they urgently need it instead of attending the emergency department.
I believe there is also the element of educating our communities about what is considered A&E and what it is not. This can reduce some of the panic people have when confronted with a health issue and they can determine whether it is A&E or not.
- this could be costly but creating bigger departments with bigger staff could help get patients admitted quicker.
A patient would like you to explain to them why it is important for them to get a vaccine or the COVID-19 vaccine. What do you say?
the first important thing we should touch on is that getting the vaccine reduces the risk of getting sick with the coronavirus. If you never end up getting sick in the first place, then there is no chance of you being unwell, getting admitted to hospital or passing it to others or loved ones.
now if you do end up getting coronavirus but you have the vaccine, it is much more likely that it would be a much milder infection so that means you are less likely to get really unwell. Is that making sense so far? If you have any questions please feel free to but in at any time and Ill be happy to answer them.
Getting the COVID-19 vaccine is a super safe procedure and millions of people have had it already and the vast majority of them have had no serious reactions to it, the only reaction you might have is mild flu-like symptoms for one to two days.
Something else i want to touch on is that if enough people get the vaccine then we can potentially almost eliminate the coronavirus from the world.
Can doctors ever refuse to treat patients?
CAN:
- patients cant demand treatment from doctors. (especailly if no symtoms or nothing seams wrong)
- wont treat patients if its not in their best interest. eg chemo when the cancer can’t be cured because chemo is painful and it might actually end up doing more damage to the patient
- refusing to offer treatment because it goes against their religious beliefs, but must offer another solution
- when the patient is being violent or abusive
-outside of their knowledge
CANT:
- cant discriminate against patients on any of the human rights protective characteristics
- duty of care to patients, cant offer just any treatment they feel like
- emergency, if they are on holiday and someone needs help, morally correct to help them.
what do you think are some of the most important character traits that a doctor should have?
(include examples of your own life)
integrity and empathy
- doctors possess a lot of power and responsibility in their role. patients and the public need to have trust that doctors will act with utmost honesty. without the trust, doctors will not be able to do their job effectively. if a patient thinks that whatever they tella doctor will be gossiped about amongst other staff than imagine how little that patient will tell the doctor. this comes in between the doctor being able to help the paitient effectively and for the patient to receive the help they actually need. Having empathy is also crucial to to be able to fully understand one another and build a realtionship with teh atient, and it makes things much more easier not just for the doctor but for the patient as well. understanding what they are going through can help a doctor see what needs to be done.
Problem solving:
- in terms of problem solving in diagnosing a patient with a disease. their signs, their symptoms, their test results, you have to put it all together to be able to give their proper diagnosis and you can effectively traet and help the patient with what they have.
it also equally important for a doctor to be able to work in teams, to put a team together to help a patient if it is an emergency situation where they might need surgery or such.
Communication:
- doctor have to communicate with patients to figure out whats wrong or thei histroy, they ahve to communicate with other members of the team and the hospital, and they also have to be able to transfer their medical knowledge into a language that patients will be able to understand
what are the potential issues that a patient adds you on social media?
- blurring the lines of your personal life as a person and your professional life as a doctor
- if building a friendship with a patient, can cause difficulty when making proffesional decisions influenced by that friendship
3.giving patient access to personal and private life. - patient can message you about test results etc.
what do you think the NHS main priorities over the next five years?
- adult social care
- no new beds for new patients
- full hospitals means poor care for patients in the hospital
- longer backlog
- lack of availability of ASC
- less people being discharged and admitted - Staffing levels
- very understaffed
- increase life time retention and people admitted into med schools and graduating to become a physcians
- retaining staff by increase the standard of their working conditions and their teatment. - waiting lists
- for operations, referrals, treatments, are very long
-patients in pain are waiting large amounts of time and their conditions unfortunately get worse and we know that that leads to increased morbidity rate and mortality rate.
if we focus on the first two points, believe that the third point will also improve.
Tell us about the 4 ethical principles of medicine
- Autonomy
- patients right to make an informed decision about their healthcare, their wishes must always be respected if they are competent. its their total right to accept and refuse treatments. - Beneficence
- doctors duty to do good and act in the best interest of the patient - non-maleficence
- doctors duty to do no harm to its patients
4.Justice
- ensuring fairness, does providing a certain costly type of care deprive others of care? etc. Can only be judged on clinical need
what do you think about euthanasia, or assisted suicide
this is a very difficult topic and one that is often debated since I believe that the ethics pillars of medicine come to play where beneficence and non-malificence are in conflict with each other. Ending someone’s life is not doing good but if that person is in a lot of pain and it is there wish then you could argue that ending someones life in this case is not doing harm. and autonomy and justice can come into play too where if it is the patients wish to move on from life then euthanasia would be helping them but is it also fair to take the life of a human bing regardless of the intention? It is quite tricky, Im aware that there are three types of euthanasia like active, passive euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. and passive euthanasia, to me, should not be called that just because it can get a bit confusing because it could mean that you are withdrawing or withholding treatment that results in someone dying because doing this in the patients best-interest is considered good clinical practice. and So calling it euthanasia is misleading because euthanasia is illegal in the UK. A lot of people will stand on either side of the story where they believe that euthanasia in the patients interest is good and others will believe that taking someones life no matter what intentions is bad. So I do believe it is a very debatable and difficult topic and it is also a hard one to form an opinion about.
what do you understand about the expression “patient confidentiality” and when it can be breached?
patient confidentiality is law where a doctor can’t reveal anything said to them by their patient nor share anything that is between them and the patient. it is very important to protect this confidentiality because breaching it could lead to serious consequences and most importantly the loss of trust. however patient confidentiality can be breached when there is implied consent from the patient, if it is information that is required by court and if it is it in public interest in regards to the patients safety.
pros and cons of euthanasia
- respect for patients autonomy, if this isa patients wish and it is their personal decision then it should be permitted
- relief of suffering
which is medicine at its core as well, trying to alleviate patients symptoms and pain or cure them, so this can be a pro if it is the patients decision and if they fully understand what it is and means, because it is an end to their suffering.
cons;
-proper palliative car makes euthanasia uneccesary
-againts religious beliefs
- euthanasia brings in another perspective to medicine and can become a slippery slope between its regulation and use if it became legal.
-could bring fear to others
are there any situations where lying can be justified in medicine?
