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GMC Good-medical-practice
Clinical Medicine (MED4012)
University of Glasgow
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Clinical MedPreview text
The duties of a doctor registered with
the GMC
Patients must be able to trust doctors with their lives and health. To justify that trust you must show respect for human life and make sure your practice meets the standards expected of you in four domains.
Knowledge, skills and performance ■■ 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.
Safety and quality ■■ Take prompt action if you think that patient safety, dignity or comfort is being compromised. ■■ Protect and promote the health of patients and the public.
Communication, partnership and teamwork ■■ 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.
Maintaining trust ■■ 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.
You are personally accountable for your professional practice and must always be prepared to justify your decisions and actions.
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Page
- About this guidance Contents
- Professionalism in action
- professional performance Develop and maintain your
- Domain 1: Knowledge, skills and performance
- Apply knowledge and experience to practice
- Record your work clearly, accurately and legibly
- Contribute to and comply with systems to protect patients
- Domain 2: Safety and quality
- Respond to risks to safety - posed by your health Protect patients and colleagues from any risk
- Communicate effectively
- Domain 3: Communication, partnership and teamwork - or improve patient care Work collaboratively with colleagues to maintain
- Teaching, training, supporting and assessing
- Continuity and coordination of care
- Establish and maintain partnerships with patients
- Show respect for patients
- Domain 4: Maintaining trust - discrimination Treat patients and colleagues fairly and without
- Act with honesty and integrity
- Endnotes
- Index
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Good medical practice includes references to explanatory guidance. A complete list of explanatory guidance is at the end of the booklet.
All our guidance is available on our website, along with:
■■ learning materials, including interactive case studies which bring to life the principles in the guidance and show how they might apply in practice
■■ cases heard by medical practitioners tribunals, which provide examples of where a failure to follow the guidance has put a doctor’s registration at risk.
About this guidance Contents
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5 In Good medical practice, we use the terms ‘you must’ and ‘you should’ in the following ways.
■■ ‘You must’ is used for an overriding duty or principle.
■■ ‘You should’ is used when we are providing an explanation of how you will meet the overriding duty.
■■ ‘You should’ is also used where the duty or principle will not apply in all situations or circumstances, or where there are factors outside your control that affect whether or how you can follow the guidance.
6 To maintain your licence to practise, you must demonstrate, through the revalidation process, that you work in line with the principles and values set out in this guidance. Serious or persistent failure to follow this guidance will put your registration at risk.
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Domain 1: Knowledge, skills and performance
Develop and maintain your professional performance
7 You must be competent in all aspects of your work, including management, research and teaching, 4, 5
8 You must keep your professional knowledge and skills up to date.
9 You must regularly take part in activities that maintain and develop your competence and performance. 6
10 You should be willing to find and take part in structured support opportunities offered by your employer or contracting body (for example, mentoring). You should do this when you join an organisation and whenever your role changes significantly throughout your career.
11 You must be familiar with guidelines and developments that affect your work.
12 You must keep up to date with, and follow, the law, our guidance and other regulations relevant to your work.
13 You must take steps to monitor and improve the quality of your work.
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Working with colleagues
16 In providing clinical care you must:
a prescribe drugs or treatment, including repeat prescriptions, only when you have adequate knowledge of the patient’s health and are satisfied that the drugs or treatment serve the patient’s needs 9
b provide effective treatments based on the best available evidence
c take all possible steps to alleviate pain and distress whether or not a cure may be possible 10
d consult colleagues where appropriate
e respect the patient’s right to seek a second opinion
f check that the care or treatment you provide for each patient is compatible with any other treatments the patient is receiving, including (where possible) self-prescribed over-the-counter medications
g wherever possible, avoid providing medical care to yourself or anyone with whom you have a close personal relationship. 9
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, 11, 12
18 You must make good use of the resources available to you. 3
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Record your work clearly, accurately and legibly
19 Documents you make (including clinical records) to formally record your work must be clear, accurate and legible. You should make records at the same time as the events you are recording or as soon as possible afterwards.
20 You must keep records that contain personal information about patients, colleagues or others securely, and in line with any data protection law requirements. 14
21 Clinical records should include:
a relevant clinical findings
b the decisions made and actions agreed, and who is making the decisions and agreeing the actions
c the information given to patients
d any drugs prescribed or other investigation or treatment
e who is making the record and when.
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Respond to risks to safety
24 You must promote and encourage a culture that allows all staff to raise concerns openly and safely, 15
25 You must take prompt action if you think that patient safety, dignity or comfort is or may be seriously compromised.
a If a patient is not receiving basic care to meet their needs, you must immediately tell someone who is in a position to act straight away.
b If patients are at risk because of inadequate premises, equipment 13 or other resources, policies or systems, you should put the matter right if that is possible. You must raise your concern in line with our guidance 14 and your workplace policy. You should also make a record of the steps you have taken.
c If you have concerns that a colleague may not be fit to practise and may be putting patients at risk, you must ask for advice from a colleague, your defence body or us. If you are still concerned you must report this, in line with our guidance and your workplace policy, and make a record of the steps you have taken, 16
26 You must offer help if emergencies arise in clinical settings or in the community, taking account of your own safety, your competence and the availability of other options for care.
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27 Whether or not you have vulnerable 17 adults or children and young people as patients, you should consider their needs and welfare and offer them help if you think their rights have been abused or denied, 19
Risks posed by your health
28 If you know or suspect that you have a serious condition that you could pass on to patients, or if your judgement or performance could be affected by a condition or its treatment, you must consult a suitably qualified colleague. You must follow their advice about any changes to your practice they consider necessary. You must not rely on your own assessment of the risk to patients.
29 You should be immunised against common serious communicable diseases (unless otherwise contraindicated).
30 You should be registered with a general practitioner outside your family.
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Working collaboratively with colleagues
35 You must work collaboratively with colleagues, respecting their skills and contributions. 3
36 You must treat colleagues fairly and with respect.
37 You must be aware of how your behaviour may influence others within and outside the team.
38 Patient safety may be affected if there is not enough medical cover. So you must take up any post you have formally accepted, and work your contractual notice period before leaving a job, unless the employer has reasonable time to make other arrangements.
Teaching, training, supporting and assessing
39 You should be prepared to contribute to teaching and training doctors and students.
40 You must make sure that all staff you manage have appropriate supervision.
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41 You must be honest and objective when writing references, and when appraising or assessing the performance of colleagues, including locums and students. References must include all information relevant to your colleagues’ competence, performance and conduct. 22
42 You should be willing to take on a mentoring role for more junior doctors and other healthcare professionals. 3
43 You must support colleagues who have problems with their performance or health. But you must put patient safety first at all times. 3
Continuity and coordination of care
44 You must contribute to the safe transfer of patients between healthcare providers and between health and social care providers. This means you must:
a share all relevant information with colleagues involved in your patients’ care within and outside the team, including when you hand over care as you go off duty, and when you delegate care or refer patients to other health or social care providers8, 14
b check, where practical, that a named clinician or team has taken over responsibility when your role in providing a patient’s care has ended. This may be particularly important for patients with impaired capacity or who are vulnerable for other reasons.
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d any other information patients need if they are asked to agree to be involved in teaching or research. 12
50 You must treat information about patients as confidential. This includes after a patient has died. 14
51 You must support patients in caring for themselves to empower them to improve and maintain their health. This may, for example, include:
a advising patients on the effects of their life choices and lifestyle on their health and well-being
b supporting patients to make lifestyle changes where appropriate.
52 You must explain to patients if you have a conscientious objection to a particular procedure. You must tell them about their right to see another doctor and make sure they have enough information to exercise that right. In providing this information you must not imply or express disapproval of the patient’s lifestyle, choices or beliefs. If it is not practical for a patient to arrange to see another doctor, you must make sure that arrangements are made for another suitably qualified colleague to take over your role. 23
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Show respect for patients
53 You must not use your professional position to pursue a sexual or improper emotional relationship with a patient or someone close to them. 16
54 You must not express your personal beliefs (including political, religious and moral beliefs) to patients in ways that exploit their vulnerability or are likely to cause them distress. 23
55 You must be open and honest with patients if things go wrong. If a patient under your care has suffered harm or distress, you should:
a put matters right (if that is possible)
b offer an apology
c explain fully and promptly what has happened and the likely short-term and long-term effects.
Domain 4: Maintaining trust
GMC Good-medical-practice
Module: Clinical Medicine (MED4012)
University: University of Glasgow
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