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DUTY OF CANDOUR Equal consideration should be given to disclosure of informa tion that was generated by the intervention, particularly where ‘something went wrong’ that caused (or had the potential to cause) harm or distress. The duty to disclose these matter...

FURTHER PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF CLINICAL LAW IN FURTHER PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF CLINICAL LAW IN FURTHER PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF CLINICAL LAW IN

HARM Respect for autonomy does not entail only the right of capac - itous patients to consent to treatment. Their autonomous - right extends to control over their confidential information, and surgeons must respect their patients’ privacy , not commu - nicatin...

INCAPACITY Absence of capacity in adults does not vitiate the requirement, where possible, to take into account the patient’s sentiments during clinical decision making. In one case, a judge declared that an elderly man with a septic leg, although incapacitat...

INTRODUCTION This chapter incorporates references to English common and statute law . Nevertheless, these legal and ethical principles have much in common with other jurisdictions across the world. Surgery , ethics and law go hand in hand. In any other arena o...

Learning objectives To understand: The importance of autonomy in good surgical practice • The necessity for reasonable disclosure prior to seeking • consent for surgery Good practice in making decisions about withdrawal of • life-sustaining treatment Learning ...

REFERENCES 1 Kings College Hospital v C & V [2015] EWCOP 80 2 Montgomery (Appellant) v Lanarkshire Health Board (Respondent) (Scotland) [2015] UKSC 11 3 Wheeler RA. Tangible Sentiments. Bulletin RCSE, 2016 January 98 44 4 Salford Royal NHSFT v P & Q [2017] EWC...

RESEARCH As part of their duty to protect life and health to an acceptable professional standard, surgeons have a subsidiary responsibility to strive to improve operative techniques through research to assure themselves and their patients that the care propos...

RESPECT FOR AUTONOMY Surgeons have a duty of care towards their patients that goes beyond merely protecting life and health. Their additional duty of care is to respect the autonomy of their patients and their - ability to make choices about their treatment...

SHARING INFORMATION WITH THE POLICE It is not uncommon to receive a request from the police for patient data. Consider the patient admitted after a fall down the stairs; it is suggested that his partner had caused the fall. The partner is in police custody , a...

STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE To optimise success in protecting life and health to an accept - able standard, surgeons must only o ff er specialised treatment in which they have been properly trained. To do so will entail sustained further education throughout a surg...

SURGICAL PRACTICE Thus far, the moral and legal reasons why the duty of surgeons to respect the autonomy of patients translates into the specific responsibility to obtain informed consent to treatment have been reviewed. For consent to be valid, adult patients...

THE ROLE OF THE COURT The question has arisen regarding the circumstances in England in which clinical decisions relating to withdrawal of 5 treatment should be automatically referred to the court. Mr Y was an active man in his fifties when he had a cardiac arr...

TRANSPLANTATION The law and ethics of organ transplantation require more space than this chapter allows. In common with other nations, the UK has a statutory framework for transplantation, but even among this small group of nations there is no unanimity of l...

CLINICAL OUTCOMES, AUDIT AND IMPROVEMENT tients Clinical audit, a function of clinical governance, is the means by which the health care being provided is compared with accepted standards. It allows care providers and patients to know how their service is doi...

COMMUNICATION Professional behaviour and maintaining fitness to practice Professionalism is an important component of patient safety . This embraces attitudes and behaviours that serve the patient’s best interests above and beyond other considerations. Organ i...

Checklists Checklists in the operating theatre environment are now accepted as standard safety protocols since the Safe Surgery Saves Lives Study Group at WHO published its results. The use of a perioperative surgical safety checklist in eight hospitals aroun...

Clinical microsystems A clinical microsystem is an interdependent quality improvement unit made up of a small group of people who work together, usually on a regular basis, to provide care. Such groups are typically multidisciplinary . The patients who recei...