Treating patients fairly

  1. Summary
  2. Creating fair, respectful, and compassionate workplaces
  3. Helping to tackle discrimination
  4. Treating patients fairly
  5. Promoting patient centred care
  1. Supporting continuity of care and safe delegation
  2. Consent and confidentiality
  3. Taking care of your own wellbeing
  4. Communicating as a medical student
  5. Engaging with assessments policies and procedures

New paragraphs have been redrafted or brought into Achieving good medical practice to reflect the updates to Good medical practice. This includes:

  • As a medical student, you'll learn how to treat patients fairly and respect their rights. Therefore you must:
    • recognise and respect a patient's dignity
    • recognise a patient’s right to choose whether to accept your advice, and respect their right to seek a second opinion
    • treat patients fairly
    • treat information about patients as confidential
    • be clear with patients about the role you'll take in their care (paragraph 15).
  • Doctors must treat patients fairly, give priority to patients based on their clinical need and must not discriminate against them or allow personal views to affect their relationship with the patient, or the treatment they provide or arrange. They must not refuse or delay treatment because they believe that a patient’s actions or choices contributed to their condition. (Paragraph 17)
  • All registered doctors must treat patients with kindness, courtesy and respect. This doesn’t mean agreeing to every request or withholding relevant information that may be upsetting or unwelcome. It means communicating sensitively and considerately, listening to patients, and trying not to make assumptions. (Paragraph 27)
  • As a medical student, you'll learn how to treat patients with kindness, courtesy and respect. Therefore you must:
    • communicate sensitively and considerately at all times
    • listen and respond to patients' views and concerns
    • try not to make assumptions
    • recognise that patients may be vulnerable
    • be alert to signs of pain or distress. (Paragraph 28)
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