Types Of Medico-Legal Courses For Doctors
Working as a doctor in the 2020s comes with an ever-present risk of litigation, complaints, and disciplinary procedures. Major stories of the GMC appearing to penalise mistakes (such as in the Dr Arora case) and target individuals over systemic failures (such as in the Dr Bawa-Garba case) have led to complaints about the risk associated with practising medicine within a faltering system.
For medics who are concerned about the risk of professional, financial, or even criminal consequences that we face when working in the NHS, one way to protect yourself is by going on a medico-legal course aimed at doctors. By attending these courses, junior doctors can develop a better strategy to protect themselves while working.
Here are some examples of medico-legal courses for doctors.
Managing Complaints & Preventing Litigation
When dealing with patients, it is only natural for a doctor to come across complaints made against them at least a couple of times during their career. Some patients may go as far as to take legal action against doctors and ask for compensation. Anyone working in the field of medicine should have an idea of how to minimise space for litigations and handle complaints made against them.
These courses on managing complaints and dealing with litigation may educate you on the following:
- Basic ethical principles
- Effective communication
- Dispute resolution skills
- Accurate record keeping
- Medical law
- Professional liability insurance
Professionalism and Probity
Patients often reveal their most personal and sensitive information to medical professionals during consultations. Hence, the general public expects doctors to be competent, professional, and accountable in both their work and personal lives. Doctors are also expected to have high moral values and be honest, transparent, and always respect the patient’s rights. Following a short course on professionalism and probity may be beneficial to improve your professional image as a doctor.
These courses on professionalism and probity may include essential aspects such as:
- What are professionalism and probity?
- The importance of continuous medical education in professionalism
- Professional communication
- Ethics in medical practice
- Financial management
Consent
Autonomy is one of the basic principles of medical ethics. Any information gathering, physical examination, investigation, or treatment requires prior consent from the patient. While verbal consent may suffice in many cases, informed written consent is a must for investigations or treatments that pose a significant risk to the patient. Obtaining consent is an art that one must master, especially among researchers and doctors performing invasive procedures.
Consent is often a key concept discussed in the Situational Judgement Test, and in particular, you must be well versed on when you are legally allowed or obliged to break consent. Specific situations often discussed include using blood products for Jehovah’s Witnesses, Gillick Competency for children, and disclosing information to the police.
These courses on consent may cover the following aspects of obtaining consent:
- Patients’ rights and autonomy
- What situations need consent
- Informed written consent
- Obtaining consent from minors
- Situations where consent isn’t required
- The power of courts to give consent
Mental Health Act
The Mental Health Act was implemented to protect the rights of people with mental health disorders and govern their treatment and care. While psychiatrists should know the extent and limitations of the Mental Health Act in and out, other specialists and general practitioners should also be familiar with its basic principles.Â
By attending a Mental Health Act course, you might get a basic idea of:
- History of the Mental Health Act
- Assessment of mental status
- Obtaining consent from mentally unwell patients
- Detention and admission and compulsory treatment
- Rights of detained individuals
- Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
- Mental health tribunals and community health orders
