Should GPs avoid making ethical judgements?

Papanikitas, Andrew; Lewis, Gregory W.; McKenzie-Edwards, Emma

doi:10.3399/bjgp16x686497

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The GP may have their own personal opinions regarding the morality of abortion, and it may be difficult for them to know the extent to which these opinions should be shared with the patient, if at all. If doctors have particularly strong opinions, it may be difficult for them to remain neutral [18]. It is therefore essential that GPs and other healthcare professionals are aware of their pre-existing moral viewpoints and emotions to ensure they do not adversely impact the patient or consultation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is it morally permissible for general practitioners to disclose their opinion on a woman’s decision on abortion?

Aung

Knight

2020

BMC Med Ethics

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Background: This paper considers ethical dilemmas arising where a patient asks their General Practitioner for advice and their personal opinion regarding whether or not to have an abortion. Patients often seek their General Practitioner's advice regarding treatments and procedures, which may occasionally lead to the General Practitioner facing a difficult dilemma of whether to share their personal opinion with their patient. As General Practitioners are more accessible as the first point of contact for patients and often have a closer relationship with them, they may be particularly exposed to such situations. Additionally, the significance of abortion as a sensitive topic and the fact the General Practitioner may have their own personal viewpoint on its morality may make it particularly difficult for them to know how to respond to such a request. Main text: This paper explores the difficulties arising in such a situation and considers whether it could ever be ethically justifiable for General Practitioners to express their opinions on such a matter. We consider the duties of a doctor, and highlight the need for clearer guidance for healthcare professionals on managing tensions in their professional boundaries between their personal moral views and their professional responsibilities. A range of ethical viewpoints are considered to explore how a doctor might ap, in particular the principle of autonomy, virtue ethics, and consequentialism. Conclusions: This article recognises that a General Practitioner in a situation such as this faces many ethical challenges. We propose that offering their opinion to the patient where specifically requested may be morally justifiable. A virtue ethics approach in particular requires that the General Practitioner applies practical wisdom to make this decision, and where they do disclose their opinion ensure this is done so in such a manner that it does not harm the patient and promotes flourishing. We encourage GPs and other healthcare professionals to consider their own moral perspectives on sensitive issues such as abortion, and reflect on how their moral viewpoints have the potential to influence their practice. In doing so, we hope clinicians can be better should they be faced with a situation such as this.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is it morally permissible for general practitioners to disclose their opinion on a woman’s decision on abortion?

Aung

Knight

2020

BMC Med Ethics

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“…There may be a temptation to avoid discussing ethics in formal settings, because when discussing difficult cases others may disagree with the decisions made. Doctors find other ways to avoid discussing ethics, for example, by deferring to senior colleagues, experts or guidelines with the question: ‘Tell me what to do?’ (Papanikitas, Lewis, and McKenzie-Edwards, 2016). This concern may be exacerbated when recording such a discussion in an ePortfolio, whether for training or revalidation.…”

Section: Reflecting On Ethically Problematic Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Everyday clinical dilemmas

Salisbury¹,

Dixon

Papanikitas

2017

InnovAiT: Education and inspiration for general practice

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Everyday clinical dilemmas in general practice may not always be recognised as involving ethical challenges. Such cases will typically make the GP feel a bit uncomfortable and uncertain. Ethics is often seen as relevant to abstruse and complicated cases, such as cases concerning genetic testing for Huntingdon’s chorea or the reckless patient with a contagious disease. Complicated cases present relatively rarely, are recognisable and prompt us to readily seek advice from colleagues. This article offers four everyday clinical cases that illustrate ethical challenges to encourage not only thought and discussion about these cases, but also about similar cases that will present commonly to GPs and may be the subject of case-based discussions within ePortfolios or appraisal.

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“…At least one of the posters, which asked whether GPs should avoid making ethical decisions was subsequently published in the British Journal of General Practice. [ 6 ]…”

Section: The 2015 Poster Streammentioning

confidence: 99%

Education and debate: a manifesto for ethics and values at annual healthcare conferences

Papanikitas

2016

London Journal of Primary Care

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In this paper I discuss the ways in which the conference stream ethics and values manifested at the 2015 RCGP Annual Conference in Glasgow, and the ways in which it is planned for the 2016 RCGP Annual Conference in Harrogate. The 2015 RCGP had plenaries, oral presentations, breakout symposia, a debate, and a poster stream. I briefly discuss each in turn before offering a manifesto (a public statement of aims and proposed policy) for ethics and values at healthcare conferences. It is my hope that others will critique this, flesh it out further and even consider how ethics and values relate to conferences for healthcare workers of various specialities. A conference provides opportunities for ethics and values discussion that are potentially distinctive from any other kind of forum. Because conferences offer the potential for knowledge and attitudes to be revisited and revised, issues can be ‘unsettled’ in a way that permits different perspectives to be more fully discussed.

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Should GPs avoid making ethical judgements?

Cited by 5 publications

References 9 publications

Is it morally permissible for general practitioners to disclose their opinion on a woman’s decision on abortion?

Is it morally permissible for general practitioners to disclose their opinion on a woman’s decision on abortion?

Everyday clinical dilemmas

Education and debate: a manifesto for ethics and values at annual healthcare conferences

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