Introduction to ethics and confidentiality

Question 1

What are the duties of a doctor according to the GMC?

Answer 1

• Knowledge, skills and performance
• Safety and quality
• Communication, partnership and teamwork
• Maintaining trust

Question 2

What is involved with maintaining knowledge, skills and performance?

Answer 2

• Make the care of your patient your first concern
• Provide a good standard of practice and care
  □ Keep your professional knowledge and skills up to date
  □ Recognise and work within the limits of your competence

Question 3

What is involved with maintaining safety and quality?

Answer 3

• Take prompt action if you think patient safety, dignity or comfort is being compromised
• Protect and promote the health of the patients and the public

Question 4

What is involved with maintaining communication, partnership and teamwork?

Answer 4

• Treat patients as individuals and respect their dignity
  □ Treat patients politely and considerately
  □ Respect patients’ right to confidentiality
• Work in partnership with patients
  □ Listen to, and respond to, their concerns and preferences
  □ Give patients the information they want or need in a way they can understand
  □ Respect patients’ right to reach decisions with you about their treatment and care
  □ Support patients in caring for themselves to improve and maintain their health
• Work with colleagues in the ways that best serve patients’ interests

Question 5

What is involved in maintaining trust?

Answer 5

• Show respect for patients
• Treat patients as individuals and respect their dignity
• Treat patients politely and considerably
• Respect patients’ right to confidentiality
• Be honest and open and act with integrity
• Never discriminate unfairly against patients or colleagues
• Never abuse your patients’ trust in you or the public’s trust in the profession

Question 6

What are the GMC guidelines regarding consent?

Answer 6

17. You must be satisfied that you have consent or other valid authority before you carry out any examination or investigation, provide treatment or involve patients or volunteers in teaching or research
18. You must give patients the information they want or need to know in a way they can understand. You should make sure that arrangements are made, wherever possible, to meet patients’ language and communication needs.

Question 7

What are the different forms of consent?

Answer 7

○ Implied – hands over arm to get blood taken
○ Expressed consent verbally – don’t need written consent for listening to chest or taking temperature
○ Expressed consent in writing – surgery
○ Informed consent – have to tell the patient everything - don’t have in UK at the moment
○ Rational consent – enough information to agree

Question 8

What does the data protection principles state that data must be?

Answer 8

• 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 accurate and up to date
• Must not be kept for longer than necessary
• Be secure

Question 9

What advice does the data protection regulations give?

Answer 9

• Use the minimum necessary personal information
• Manage and protect information
• Be aware of your responsibilities
• Comply with the law
• Share relevant information for direct care
• Ask for explicit consent
• Tell patients
• Support patients to access their information

Question 10

What situations can confidentiality be breached?

Answer 10

○ With the patient’s consent
○ With other medical practitioners in the patient’s interest
○ In the doctors own defence
○ Statutory requirements- prevention, detection and prosecution of serious crime
○ When directed to by a court of law
○ Protection of other persons
○ In the public interest (terrorism, murder, culpable homicide, rape)
○ Child abuse