Chapter 3 Medical Ethics

At its heart, the practice of medicine is a human and moral endeavour concerned with forming therapeutic relationships with patients. It is crucial for everyone practicing medicine to understand the moral and legal framework that underpins and regulates their work. <br/><br/>In modern routine clinical practice, ethical and legal decisions are made daily by clinical teams working with patients and, where appropriate, involving their families. Increasingly, hospitals have a clinical ethics committee to discuss complex ethical cases. Trust’s may also seek a legal opinion for more challenging cases which involve a point of law. If situations are contested and disagreement seems intractable, the courts will occasionally be asked to give a decision about whether a planned course of action is lawful or unlawful. Many clinicians have qualifications in ethics and law, and further study can lead to academic, policy, legal, ethical and leadership roles. This chapter will explore the key ethical and legal principles that medical students and doctors need to engage with to ensure that their clinical practice meets the standards of the profession.