Week 5 - Ethical considerations / ethics in practice Flashcards
GPhC – standards for pharmacy professionals
-Person centred care
-Leadership
-Speaking up about concerns
-Confidentiality and privacy
-Professional behaviour
-Professional judgement
-Professional knowledge and skills
-Effective communication
-Partnership working
Professionalism
-Role model
-Knowledge – maintain & develop
-Maintain personal and
professional boundaries
-Being polite & considerate to others
-Show empathy, compassion
-Being respectful to others, treat with dignity
-Trustworthy – act honestly, integrity
Applying the standard of confidentiality
->Pharmacy professionals must respect and maintain a person’s confidentiality and privacy
People receive safe and effective care when pharmacy professionals:
-Manage information responsibly and securely in their practice
-Maintain the person’s privacy and confidentiality in the pharmacy environment
-Do not discuss information that can identify the person, when the discussions can be overheard or seen by others not involved in their care
-Ensure that everyone in the team understands the need to maintain a person’s privacy and
confidentiality
-Work in partnership with the person when considering whether to share their information, except where this would not be appropriate
The importance of maintaining confidentiality
-A person may be reluctant to ask for advice, or give a pharmacy professional the
information they need to provide proper care, if they believe that the pharmacy
professional may not keep the information confidential!!!
-When pharmacy professionals do not handle confidential information appropriately, it can damage public trust and confidence in the pharmacy
professions and other healthcare professions
Duty of confidentiality
-It is a professional and legal duty to keep confidential the information they obtain during
the course of their professional practice
-The duty of confidentiality applies to information about any person, whatever their age and continues to apply after a person’s death
-A duty of confidentiality arises when one person discloses information to another in
circumstances where it is reasonable to expect that the information will be held in
confidence
-This duty applies to ALL information that pharmacy professionals obtain during the
course of their professional practice
Confidential information includes:
-Electronic and hard copy data
-Personal details
-Information about a person’s medication (prescribed and non-prescribed)
-Other information about a person’s medical history, treatment or care that could identify them
-Information that people share that is not strictly medical in nature, but that the person
disclosing it would expect to be kept confidential
Confidential information does NOT include:
-Anonymous information
-Pseudonymised information
-Information that is already legitimately in the public domain
Protecting information
It is essential that pharmacy professionals must:
-Take all reasonable steps to protect the confidentiality and security of information
-When processing personal data, ensure it is accurate and, kept up to date
-Prevent accidental disclosure of confidential information
-Access confidential information and records only as part of providing treatment and care
-Make sure that everyone they work with maintains confidentiality
-Raise concerns if they have any regarding data control in their organisations
-Continue to protect a person’s confidentiality after they have died
-Secure storage of confidential information
-Not leave confidential information unattended
-Not discuss identifiable information if the discussions can be overheard or seen by others
-Not disclose information on any websites, internet chat forums that could identify a person
Disclosing confidential information
When would you disclose confidential information?
-Have the consent of the person under your care
-Have to disclose the information by law
-It is in the public interest
-Or in the vital interests of a person receiving treatment or care, for example -> if a patient needs immediate urgent medical attention
If a person with capacity refuses to give consent for information
to be shared with others e.g., healthcare professionals?
-Limited care, consequences
-Use pseudonymised information
Applying the standard of consent
Pharmacy professionals must provide person-centred care
What is ‘Consent’?
-Defines ‘to consent’ as ‘to express willingness, give
permission, agree’
-People have a basic right to be involved in decisions about their healthcare - obtaining consent is a fundamental part of respecting a person’s rights
Types of consent:
Types of Consent:
-Explicit (or ‘express’) consent:
when a person gives a pharmacy professional specific permission, either spoken or written, to do something
Implied consent:
-When a person gives their consent indirectly
-If a pharmacy professional is not sure whether they have implied consent -> they should get explicit consent
Obtaining consent
For consent to be valid the person must:
-Have the capacity to give consent
-Be acting voluntarily
-Have sufficient, balanced information to allow them to make an informed decision.
-Be capable of using and weighing up the information provided
-Understand the consequences of not giving consent
What is ‘capacity’?
-In England and Wales, under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, a person lacks capacity if at the time the decision needs to be made, they are unable to make or communicate the decision because of an impairment or disturbance that affects the way their mind or brain works
-In Scotland, under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, a person lacks capacity if they cannot act, make decisions or communicate them, or understand or remember their decisions because of a mental disorder or physical inability to
communicate in any form
Assessing capacity
In general, to make an informed decision, the person should be able to:
-Understand the information provided
-Remember the information provided
-Use and weigh up the information provided, and
-Communicate their decision to the pharmacy professional (by any means)
Religion, personal values and beliefs
-Pharmacy professionals must provide person-centred care
-It is important that pharmacy professionals understand and keep to the relevant framework of equalities and human rights legislation
-The Equality Act 2010 protects individuals from direct and indirect discrimination, and harassment, because of nine ‘protected characteristics’ including religion or belief
-Employers must also keep to the relevant employment, human rights and equalities law,
and must NOT discriminate against pharmacy professionals because of their stated or
perceived personal values or beliefs, including religion
Cases where a pharmacy professional’s religion, personal values or beliefs may influence their day-to-day practice
Services related to:
-Contraception (routine or emergency)
-Fertility medicines
-Hormonal therapies
-Mental health and wellbeing
-Substance misuse
-Sexual health
What should you do?
-Recognise diversity
-Take responsibility
Consider:
-Work location and range of services
-Openness between the pharmacy professional and their employer
-Making the care of the person the priority
-Handling requests sensitively
