Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Editors' note for the first edition
- Editors' note for the second edition
- Foreword
- Table of statutes
- Table of cases
- 1 Legal institutions and the legal process
- 2 Human rights and healthcare professionals
- 3 Medical ethics and the forensic physician
- 4 Confidentiality
- 5 Consent to medical treatment
- 6 Professional bodies and discipline
- 7 Complaints in the National Health Service
- 8 The Mental Health Act (England and Wales)
- 9 Death certification and the role of the coroner
- 10 Tissues and organs
- 11 Organ donation
- 12 Living wills
- 13 Euthanasia and end-of-life decision-making
- 14 Abortion and reproductive health
- 15 The Children Act 1989
- 16 Clinical negligence
- 17 Legislation for medicines and product liability
- 18 Clinical trials: ethical, legal and practical considerations
- 19 Medicolegal implications of blood-borne viruses
- 20 Healthcare professionals in court – professional and expert witnesses
- Index
Editors' note for the second edition
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Editors' note for the first edition
- Editors' note for the second edition
- Foreword
- Table of statutes
- Table of cases
- 1 Legal institutions and the legal process
- 2 Human rights and healthcare professionals
- 3 Medical ethics and the forensic physician
- 4 Confidentiality
- 5 Consent to medical treatment
- 6 Professional bodies and discipline
- 7 Complaints in the National Health Service
- 8 The Mental Health Act (England and Wales)
- 9 Death certification and the role of the coroner
- 10 Tissues and organs
- 11 Organ donation
- 12 Living wills
- 13 Euthanasia and end-of-life decision-making
- 14 Abortion and reproductive health
- 15 The Children Act 1989
- 16 Clinical negligence
- 17 Legislation for medicines and product liability
- 18 Clinical trials: ethical, legal and practical considerations
- 19 Medicolegal implications of blood-borne viruses
- 20 Healthcare professionals in court – professional and expert witnesses
- Index
Summary
Since the publication of the first edition of Medicolegal Essentials in Healthcare, the need for all healthcare professionals to be aware of and have a basic understanding of the legal issues that confront us on a daily basis has, if anything, increased. The provision of healthcare is being scrutinised in a way that would have been unimaginable even two decades ago. In the UK barely a day goes by without a significant medicolegal issue being debated in the media. Recent years have seen inquiries and reports with which names such as Bristol, Alder Hey, Shipman, and Climbie have become synonymous – each of which has addressed issues crucial to healthcare and which, in part, may reflect the limited extent of the training provided in legal and ethical issues for most working in this area. As medical technology and skills increase, so it seems that issues that some perceive as peripheral concerning the legal framework in which we practice are neglected in undergraduate training. It is our belief that a basic knowledge of the medicolegal issues of healthcare is a prerequisite for safe, responsible and ethical practice – whatever our field of work. This book refers to the legal and healthcare system in England and Wales, but broad principles may be applied across many jurisdictions.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Medicolegal Essentials in Healthcare , pp. xiii - xivPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004