MedicolegalissuesthatarehotinBritain.pptVIP

Medicolegal issues that are hot in Britain Richard Smith Editor, BMJ /talks What I’m going to talk about Skim across many hot legal issues More on the criminalisation of medical error and the human tissues bill Hot issues Making smoking illegal in workplaces, including pubs and restaurants Has happened now in Ireland as well as some American cities Resisted in England Recent evidence in the BMJ that hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction reduced after the introduction of a public smoking ban in Helena, Montana Hot issues European working time directive Junior doctors must work an average 58 hour week by August 2004 falling to 48 hours by 2009 Working time includes time on call but asleep Equivalent to the UK losing 3700 junior doctors Small hospitals may have to close Radical solutions needed (and found in some places) Surgeons don’t like it--can you ever get properly trained? Hot issues BMA guilty of institutional racism fined almost ￡1m for failing a member a complicated case, but in essence the BMA had a policy of helping members in disputes with their employers but not with the colleges of specialist training authority--and it is doctors from ethnic minorities who are most likely to have such problems a way to understand institutional racism: appointing people from within rather than advertising externally Hot issues European convention on human rights Comes into many subjects: informed consent, end of life issues New system for coroners and verifying death Follows on from Shipman Reforms to the coroner system will result in a change in the number of coroners from 127 full and part timers to between 40 and 60 full timers, all legally qualified Hot issues Each coroners area will have a medical examiner, who will play a key role in verifying the cause of deaths. Death is verified by a doctor, paramedic, or senior nurse, who then completes a verification form Last doctor to treat the patient certifies the cause Medical examiner seeks further informat