What to do if you disagree with a patient’s decision

You may be in a situation in which a patient asks for treatment or care that you don’t think would be in their clinical interests.

If this happens, we’re clear that you should:

• explore their reasons for requesting that treatment
• explore their understanding of what it would involve
• discuss their expectations about the likely outcome.

Doing this will help you take account of factors that are significant to your patient and assess whether providing the treatment or care could serve their needs. If after this discussion you still consider that the treatment or care would not serve the patient’s needs, then you should not provide it.

But, you should explain your reasons to the patient and explore other options that might be available. This includes their right to seek a second opinion.