Vaccine hesitancy is defined by the WHO as a ‘refusal or delay in vaccine acceptance despite availability of vaccine services’ (Butler and MacDonald, 2015)..
Prior to the introduction of the MCA, emergency medical treatment given to an incapacitated adult was done using the doctrine of necessity. The doctrine of necessity is a concept in common law—this...
An ability to account for our actions with a clear evidence base is a crucial component of professional accountability (Gallagher and Hodge, 2012) and reflected in a healthcare professional's code of...
The four principles approach to biomedical ethics provides a straightforward framework for considering moral dilemmas, and is based on four moral principles: respect for autonomy, beneficence,...
The discussion that follows is concerned only with consent as it relates to a competent adult patient receiving treatment in England. Patients who lack capacity, are under 18 years of age, or...
The patient, who will be called John for confidentiality purposes, presented to the ambulance service with an ‘altered mental state’. John had arrived at a friend's house during the night, behaving in...
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) took force in 2007; the long-awaited legislation that addressed the legal lacuna regarding decisions made on behalf of adults deemed unable to consent for...
In a series of cases, the English courts have recognised the legal effect at common law of advance statements. In the case of validity of an advance refusal of life-saving treatment, the courts will...
Laura is 29 years old and has schizophrenia. She is also 30 weeks pregnant. Her partner (Simon) has called 999—she has not been taking her medication for several days as she wrongly believed it might...
‘Legal highs’ were highlighted by the media after suspected deaths across several countries were associated with the use of mephedrone (also known as ‘meow meow’ or M-CAT), with 70 in the UK. The...
‘The volunteering of all relevant information to persons who have or may have been harmed by the provision of services, whether or not the information has been requested and whether or not a...
‘The College of Paramedics believes that good practice in social media is no different from that in any other form of communication’ .