Good medical practice: Explanatory guidance

Please select which guidance you need using the table below. If you are looking for information on a specific issue and do not know which guidance title you need, you can also view our A-Z or search the guidance.

You can also download the publication, What to expect from your doctor: a guide for patients (2013) which we have developed to help patients understand the standards expected of all doctors. Please note that this is not guidance for doctors.

Role of the guidance	Access the guidance
Good medical practice is our core guidance for all registered doctors. As with all our guidance, serious or persistent failure to follow it will put a doctor’s registration at risk. Good medical practice is supported by a range of explanatory guidance, which expands on one or more of its high level principles.	Good medical practice
We have guidance about fundamental ethical principles that most doctors will use every day, like Consent and Confidentiality.	Confidentiality Consent
Guidance that every doctor needs to know about and follow, even though they may not use it regularly in their day to day work.	0-18 years Protecting children and young people Leadership and management for all doctors Raising and acting on concerns Treatment and care towards the end of life
And guidance that may be more relevant to doctors working in certain specialties, or about specific situations some doctors may face during the course of their career. We expect doctors to be familiar with the range of guidance because failure to follow any of it will put their registration at risk.	Accountability Acting as a witness Consent to research Confidentiality Confidentiality: disclosing information for education and training purposes Confidentiality: disclosing information for insurance, employment and similar purposes Confidentiality: disclosing information about serious communicable diseases Confidentiality: reporting concerns about patients to the DVLA or the DVA Confidentiality: reporting gunshot and knife wounds Confidentiality: responding to criticism in the media Cosmetic interventions Delegation and referral Doctors' use of social media Ending your professional relationship with a patient Financial and commercial arrangements and conflicts of interest Good practice in research Maintaining boundaries: Intimate examinations and chaperones Maintaining boundaries: Maintaining a professional boundary between you and your patient Maintaining boundaries: Sexual behaviour and your duty to report colleagues Openness and honesty when things go wrong Personal beliefs and medical practice Prescribing and managing medicines and devices Reporting criminal and regulatory proceedings within and outside the UK Responsible consultants or clinicians Use of visual and audio When a patient seeks advice or information about assistance to die Writing references

Good medical practice: Explanatory guidance

Role of the guidance

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