Unit information: Patient Centred Issues in Health Care Ethics and Law in 2010/11

Unit name	Patient Centred Issues in Health Care Ethics and Law
Unit code	MEDIM6002
Credit points	15
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
Unit director	Professor. Huxtable
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Faculty	Faculty of Health Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

Subject matter to be covered will include: (i.) ethical and legal issues relating to consent and refusal of health care, including competence, information and voluntariness, (ii.) ethical and legal issues relating to deciding for others, including incompetence and the role of proxy decision-makers, and (iii.) ethical and legal issues relating to confidentiality, including the ethical, legal and professional basis of the obligation and conflicting obligations.

Aims:

This Unit aims to provide students with a systematic understanding and critical awareness of further key issues surrounding the role of the health care professional, with regard both for the individual patient and society at large. The Unit will focus students’ attention on theoretical justifications for, and ethical and legal obligations arising in relation to, work in the health care professions including professionals’ self-care and care of others. Students will learn to distinguish between, critically appraise and apply some of the theories relating to professionalism, conscience and justice and will gain greater insight into and ability to critically reflect on the legal and professional obligations in this context.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this Unit, students will be able to:

1. Systematically understand core ethical and legal issues in the professional-patient relationship in health care;
2. Critically assess and apply core ethical and legal issues in the professional-patient relationship to their own practice in health care, including developing original arguments and reflecting on their validity;
3. Undertake independent research on ethical and legal aspects of the professional-patient relationship, drawing on appropriate methodology and research tools; and
4. Show evidence of soundly reasoned and clearly communicated scholarship in health care ethics and law as it applies to the professional-patient relationship.

Teaching Information

Student centred teaching & learning strategies will be promoted using the following methods:

• Online tutorials, incorporating discussion boards and guided reading
• Student-centred seminars
• Small group exercises

Assessment Information

This Unit will be assessed by one 3,000 word essay. This task will examine students’ abilities to identify, critique and resolve a case from their own experience in health care, with reference to at least one of the topics taught in this Unit. Students will need to demonstrate understanding and application of the core ethical and legal issues arising in the chosen topic and how they relate to health care practice.

Reading and References

1. O’Neill O. (2002). Autonomy and Trust in Bioethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2. Dworkin G. (1998). The Theory and Practice of Autonomy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3. Faden RR & Beauchamp TL. (1986). A History and Theory of Informed Consent. New York: Oxford University Press.
4. Manson NC & O’Neill O. (2007). Rethinking Informed Consent in Bioethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
5. Buchanan AE & Brock DW. (1990). Deciding for Others: The Ethics of Surrogate Decision Marking. New York: Cambridge University Press.
6. McLean S. (1989). A Patient’s Right to Know: Information Disclosure, the Doctor and the Law. Dartmouth.