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Guidance on good practice

• Read Good medical practice (2013)
  • Contents
  • Duties of a doctor
  • Introduction: Professionalism in action
  • Domain 1: Knowledge, skills and performance
    • Develop and maintain your professional performance
    • Apply knowledge and experience to practice
    • Record your work clearly, accurately and legibly
  • Domain 2: Safety and quality
    • Contribute to and comply with systems to protect patients
    • Respond to risks to safety
    • Risks posed by your health
  • Domain 3: Communication, partnership and teamwork
    • Communicate effectively
    • Working collaboratively with colleagues
    • Teaching, training, supporting and assessing
    • Continuity and coordination of care
    • Establish and maintain partnerships with patients
  • Domain 4: Maintaining trust
    • Show respect for patients
    • Treat patients and colleagues fairly and without discrimination
    • Act with honesty and integrity
  • Endnotes
• Read the explanatory guidance
  • Darllenwch yr arweiniad esboniadol
  • 0-18 years
    • Contents
    • Introduction
    • Assessing best interests
    • Communication
    • Making decisions
    • Principles of confidentiality
    • Access to medical records by children
    • Child protection
    • Sexual activity
    • Contraception, abortion and sexually transmitted infections
    • Suitability to work with children and young people
    • Complaints
    • Prescribing medicines
    • Supplementary information
  • Accountability in mental health teams
  • Acting as a witness in legal proceedings (2013)
    • Contents
    • About this guidance: Acting as a witness
    • Duties of all witnesses
    • Giving evidence as a witness of fact (professional witness)
    • Giving evidence as an expert witness
    • Notes and records
    • Understanding your role
    • Information security and disclosure
    • Conflicts of interest
    • Other sources of information
    • Endnotes: Acting as a witness
  • Confidentiality: good practice in handling patient information (2017)
    • Contents: Confidentiality: good practice in handling patient information
    • About this guidance: confidentiality
    • Ethical and legal duties of confidentiality
    • The main principles of this guidance
    • Disclosing patients’ personal information: a framework
    • Using and disclosing patient information for direct care
    • Disclosures for the protection of patients and others
    • Using and disclosing patient information for secondary purposes
    • Managing and protecting personal information
    • Legal annex
    • Endnotes
    • Confidentiality: Case studies
    • Confidentiality: Short scenarios
  • Confidentiality: disclosing information about serious communicable diseases (2017)
    • Guidance
    • Endnotes
  • Confidentiality: disclosing information for education and training purposes (2017)
    • Guidance: education and training
    • Endnotes
  • Confidentiality: disclosing information for employment, insurance and similar purposes (2017)
    • Guidance
    • Endnotes
  • Confidentiality: patients' fitness to drive and reporting concerns to the DVLA or DVA (2017)
    • Guidance: DVLA or DVA
    • Endnotes: DVLA or DVA
  • Confidentiality: reporting gunshot and knife wounds (2017)
    • Guidance
    • Endnotes
  • Confidentiality: responding to criticism in the media (2017)
    • Guidance
    • Endnotes
  • Consent guidance
    • Contents
    • How the guidance applies to you
    • Part 1: Principles
    • Part 2: Making decisions about investigations and treatment
    • Part 3: Capacity issues
    • Legal annex
    • Endnotes: Consent
  • Cosmetic interventions
    • Contents
    • How this guidance applies to you
    • Using this guidance
    • Other sources of guidance
    • Key points
    • Knowledge, skills and performance
    • Safety and quality
    • Communication, partnership and teamwork
    • Maintaining trust
    • Endnotes
    • Cosmetic procedures: what do I need to consider?
  • Delegation and referral (2013)
    • Guidance: Delegation and refer
    • Endnotes: Delegation and refer
  • Doctors' use of social media (2013)
    • Guidance: Social media
    • Endnotes: Social media
  • Ending your professional relationship with a patient (2013)
    • Guidance: Ending your professional relationship
    • Endnotes: Ending a professional relationship
  • End of life care
    • Contents
    • About this guidance: End of life care
    • Guidance: End of life care
    • Principles
    • Decision-making models
    • Working with the principles and decision-making models
    • Neonates, children and young people
    • Meeting patients' nutrition and hydration needs
    • Clinically assisted nutrition and hydration
    • Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
    • Endnotes: End of life care
    • Legal Annex
    • Legal Annex: Endnotes
    • Glossary of terms
    • End of life care: resources
    • Learning materials
  • Financial and commercial arrangements and conflicts of interest (2013)
    • Guidance: Financial arrangements
    • Endnotes: Financial arrangements
  • Intimate examinations and chaperones (2013)
    • Guidance: Intimate examinations
    • Endnotes: Intimate examinations
  • Leadership and management for all doctors (2012)
    • About this guidance: Leadership
    • Leadership and management guidance: Contents
    • Duties of a doctor in the workplace
    • Working with colleagues
    • Maintaining and improving standards of care
    • Employment
    • Planning, using and managing resources
    • Endnotes: Leadership
  • Making and using visual and audio recordings of patients
    • Contents
    • Introduction
    • Scope of this guidance
    • Principles
    • Recordings as part of patients' care, investigation or treatment
    • Recordings made for research, education and secondary purposes
    • Recordings for use in public media
    • Deceased patients
    • Making recordings covertly
    • Recording telephone calls
    • Storing and disposing of recordings
    • Other sources of information and guidance
    • Endnotes
  • Maintaining a professional boundary between you and your patient (2013)
    • Guidance: Maintaining boundaries
    • Endnotes: Maintaining boundaries
  • Openness and honesty when things go wrong
    • Openness and honesty when things go wrong: contents
    • About this guidance: Duty of candour
    • Being open and honest with patients and those close to them
    • Encouraging a learning culture by reporting errors
    • App 1: Referenced extracts from GMC and NMC guidance
    • App 2: The statutory duty of candour for care organisations
    • Endnotes: Duty of candour
    • Case study 1: General practice
    • Case study 2: Radiology
  • Patients seeking advice or information about assistance to die
    • Guidance: Patient seeking advice, assistance to die
    • Endnotes: Patient seeking advice, assistance to die
  • Personal beliefs and medical practice (2013)
    • Contents
    • About this guidance: Personal beliefs
    • Personal beliefs and values in medical practice
    • Doctors’ personal beliefs
    • Legal issues
    • Conscientious objection
    • How could a patient’s personal beliefs affect their healthcare?
    • Procedures provided for mainly religious or cultural reasons
    • Patients who refuse treatment
    • Talking to patients about personal beliefs
    • Legal annex
    • Endnotes: Personal beliefs
  • Prescribing and managing medicines and devices (2013)
    • About this guidance: Prescribing
    • Keeping up to date
    • Need and objectivity
    • Consent
    • Sharing information with colleagues
    • Shared care
    • Raising concerns
    • Reporting adverse drug/device and other patient safety incidents
    • Reviewing medicines
    • Repeat prescribing and prescribing with repeats
    • Remote prescribing via telephone, video-link or online
    • Prescribing unlicensed medicines
    • Sports medicine
    • Endnotes: Prescribing
  • Protecting children and young people
    • Contents
    • About this guidance: Children and young people
    • Principles for protecting children and young people
    • Identifying those at risk of, or suffering, abuse or neglect
    • Communication and support
    • Working in partnership
    • Confidentiality and sharing information
    • Keeping records
    • Child protection examinations
    • Training and development
    • Doctors giving evidence in court
    • Appendix 1 - Assessing the capacity of a child or young person
    • Appendix 2 - Assessing best interests
    • Definitions of children, young people and parents
    • Other sources of information and guidance
    • Endnotes: Children and young people
    • Case studies
  • Raising and acting on concerns about patient safety (2012)
    • Contents
    • About this guidance: Raising concerns
    • Part 1: Raising a concern
    • Part 2: Acting on a concern
    • Useful contacts
    • Endnotes: Raising concerns
  • Reporting criminal and regulatory proceedings
    • Guidance: Reporting criminal proceedings
    • Endnotes: Reporting criminal proceedings
  • Research: Consent to research
    • Contents
    • About this guidance: Consent to research
    • Seeking consent
    • Areas requiring special consideration
    • Supporting documents
    • Research definitions
    • Supporting medical research
    • Endnotes: Consent to research
  • Research: Good practice in research
    • Contents
    • About this guidance: Good practice in research
    • Scope of the guidance
    • Principles of good research practice
    • Supporting documents
    • Research definitions
    • Supporting medical research
    • Endnotes: Good practice in research
  • Responsible consultants or clinicians
    • Guidance: Responsible consultants or clinicians
    • Endnotes: Responsible consultants or clinicians
  • Sexual behaviour and your duty to report colleagues (2013)
    • Guidance: Sexual behaviour
    • Endnotes: Sexual behaviour
  • Writing references (2012)
    • Guidance: References
    • Endnotes: References
• Hot topics
  • Responding to cases of female genital mutilation (FGM)
    • FGM: what does our guidance say?
    • FGM: Other support for you
    • Want to talk to us
  • Ten questions about caring for people with a learning disability
  • Keeping children safe from abuse
    • What does our guidance say?
    • Other support for you
    • Want to talk to us?
  • Ten questions about raising concerns
  • Ten questions about…consent
    • Consent: other support for you
    • Want to talk to us?
  • Vulnerable patient seeking cosmetic procedure
    • What does our guidance say?
    • Further information and support
    • Want to talk to us?
  • Doctors’ use of social media and online behaviour
    • What advice does the GMC give?
    • How do others support you in this area?
    • Want to talk to us?
  • Sharing information with patients’ friends and families
    • What advice does the GMC give?
    • How do others support you in this area?
    • Want to talk to us?
  • Prescribing unlicensed medicines
    • What advice does the GMC give?
    • How do others support you in this area?
    • Want to talk to us
  • Prescribing for friends and family
    • What advice does the GMC give?
    • How do others support you in this area?
    • Want to talk to us?
  • Duty of candour
    • What advice does the GMC give?
    • How do the GMC and others support you in this area?
    • Want to talk to us?
  • Consent
  • Ebola advice for doctors
• End of life care campaign
  • Family and friends
    • Working with families and friends
    • Support and resources
  • Clinically assisted nutrition and hydration
    • Talking about end of life care: clinically assisted nutrition and hydration
  • Capacity and consent in end of life care
    • Maximising your patient’s capacity to make decisions
    • What to do when a patient lacks capacity
  • Communication in end of life care
    • Talking about end of life care: communication
    • Handling difficult conversations
    • Support and resources
  • Advance care planning
    • Thoughts from Age UK
    • Support and resources
  • Talking about end of life care
  • DNACPR
    • Responding to recent developments
    • Resources to support you
• A-Z of ethical guidance
• Search the guidance
• My GMP app
• Accessing the guidance on the go
• Learning materials
  • Decision tools and other learning materials
  • Good medical practice in action (GMPiA)
• Better care for older people
  • What's on these pages?
  • News and updates
    • September 2015
    • May 2015
    • February 2015
    • December 2014
    • September 2014
    • July 2014
  • Equal access to care
    • Access to services
    • Making referrals for older patients
  • Providing good care
    • Meeting basic care needs
    • Dementia and mental health
    • Continuity of care
  • Working in partnership
    • Older adult safeguarding
    • Family and carers
  • Signposting
    • Signposting: areas of practice and advice
    • Signposting: information by organisation
    • Signposting: conditions
  • Reflections record
  • Suggestions and comments
• Remote patient consultations and prescribing
• Trans healthcare
  • Treatment pathways
  • Prescribing
  • Respect, confidentiality and the law
  • CPD and other useful information
• What to expect from your doctor: a guide for patients
  • Doctors must provide good care
  • Doctors must put patients' safety first and make sure the care they provide is safe and effective
  • Doctors must treat patients as individuals
  • Doctors must be honest and trustworthy
  • About the GMC
• News and consultations
  • Review of our consent guidance
    • Members of the Consent review task and finish group (TFG)
  • Capacity and consent: new tool to support your decision making
  • Guidance for all doctors who offer cosmetic interventions
  • Openness and honesty when things go wrong – new guidance for doctors, nurses and midwives
  • Competition and Markets Authority Order – Q&A
  • Doctors, nurses and midwives being open and honest when things go wrong
  • Better care for older people
  • Guidance for doctors acting as responsible consultants or clinicians
  • Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People (LACDP)
  • The launch of Good medical practice (2013)
    • Arfer meddygol da (2013)
  • New guidance on leadership and raising concerns
  • New guidance on Protecting children and young people
  • New guidance on Good practice in prescribing and managing medicines and devices (2013)
  • Guidance relating to assisting suicide
  • End of life care - development of the guidance
    • Gurch Randhawa
    • Monica Carss-Frisk
    • Ilora Finlay
    • Jonathon Hope
  • Development of new guidance for doctors who carry out cosmetic procedures
• Archived ethical guidance
  • The development of Good medical practice
    • Doctors’ use of social media
    • Watch
    • Julia's Day

Concerns about doctors

• Complaints and the role of the GMC
• Making a complaint
  • What will you need to do before you can submit a complaint?
• Patients' help
  • Patients' help - low bandwidth version
    • Who to complain to
    • Case Studies
    • Handling Complaints
    • Local help services
    • Useful links
    • GMC phone details
    • Patients' help printouts
  • Welsh language version
    • Help i gleifion - low bandwidth version
  • Patients’ help and complaints information - other versions
• Doctors under investigation
  • A guide for referred doctors
  • The Doctor Support Service
  • Health assessments
  • English language assessments
  • Performance assessments
  • Competence assessments
    • Video about Tests of Competence
  • Undertakings
• Employers information
  • Employer Liaison Service
• The investigation process
  • Investigating concerns
  • Meeting with patients
  • When a warning is appropriate
  • The Investigation Committee
  • Our guidance for decision-makers
• Hearings and decisions
  • An introduction to the MPTS
  • Interim orders tribunal
  • Medical practitioners tribunals
    • The role of a tribunal member
  • Decisions
  • Guidance
  • Hearing information for doctors
• Help for witnesses
  • GMC witness support service
  • Before attending the hearing
    • Familiarising you with the MPTS hearing centre in Manchester
  • Attending the hearing
  • Giving evidence
  • After giving evidence
  • Useful information
• Fitness to practise consultations
  • Changes to the information we publish and disclose
    • Newidiadau i'r wybodaeth yr ydym yn ei chyhoeddi ac yn ei datgelu
  • Medical Practitioners Tribunal Notices consultation
  • FTP reforms
• Printable documents
• Doctors' health concerns
  • Your Health Matters
  • Your Health Matters - low bandwidth version
    • Managing your health
    • Health assessment process
    • People who are involved
    • Agreements
    • Monitoring and supervision process
    • Case studies
    • Doctors' experiences
    • Resources
• Fitness to practise data
  • Annual statistics for fitness to practise
  • Complaints about doctors by secondary care organisations
  • Complaints about doctors by secondary care organisations - frequently asked questions
• Committed to working better
  • Reducing stress for doctors
  • Doctors who raise concerns about patient safety
  • Making our processes fairer, faster and more efficient

Publications

• The state of medical education and practice in the UK
  • The state of medical education and practice in the UK: 2016 report
    • Previous versions of The state of medical education and practice in the UK report
  • Working papers
    • Working paper 1
    • Working paper 2
• Standards and ethics guidance for doctors
• Medical education and training
  • Undergraduate education
  • Postgraduate education
  • All stages of education and training
• Concerns about a doctor
  • 2015 annual statistics
  • 2014 annual statistics
  • 2013 annual statistics
  • 2012 annual statistics
  • 2011 annual statistics
  • 2010 annual statistics
  • 2009 annual statistics
  • What to expect from your doctor: a guide for patients in British Sign Language
    • Audio version
• Registration and licensing
• Cyhoeddiadau Cymraeg
• About us
• Easy read publications
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  • Data protection
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  • Publication scheme
    • List of available information
  • Comments and complaints for subject access and information requests
  • Contact the information access team
• Use of the GMC logo
• GMC news - our ebulletins
  • GMC news
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    • May 2017
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• GMC Connect