Professional Ethics, Law, and Patient Safety
What this domain tests
This domain tests whether you can act lawfully and ethically under pressure: consent, confidentiality, competence, boundaries, documentation, and reporting duties.
Core rules
- Valid informed consent requires capacity, voluntariness, and adequate information. Capacity means the person can understand, appreciate, reason, and communicate a choice - not simply agree.
- Confidentiality has limits you should state at the start: serious risk to self or others, abuse of minors or vulnerable adults, court orders, and legally mandated reporting.
- Practise only within your competence and licence; seek supervision or refer when the case exceeds either.
- Sexual relationships with patients are prohibited absolutely. Other dual relationships should be avoided or managed transparently.
- Document contemporaneously: presenting problem, risk assessment, formulation, plan, consent, consultations, and any confidentiality decision.
- With minors, obtain guardian consent and the young person's assent, and negotiate adolescent confidentiality in advance.
Worked example
A 15-year-old discloses ongoing physical abuse at home and asks you to keep it secret. Reasoning: the legal duty to report overrides the request, but the duty is discharged well only if the limits were explained earlier and the young person is supported through it. Action: explain what you must do and why, make the report, agree a safety plan, and document the disclosure, decision, and actions taken.
Traps that cost marks
Promising absolute confidentiality; treating a signed form as proof of consent; informal clinical chat with a colleague without consent; personal social-media contact with patients; and undocumented risk decisions.