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Good handovers are essential to provide good continuous care, maintain patient safety and avoid errors. After every handover, all members of the team should have the same understanding of what has been done and the priorities going forward.

In a recent Medical Protection survey almost a third of doctors questioned were not comfortable discussing organ donation with a patient. With different laws across the UK and further changes imminent, this is maybe not surprising

Medical Protection advice line often receives queries from doctors concerned about patients that are driving whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Kate Cowan, advisory case manager, shares our advice.

Medical Protection’s Medicolegal Adviser Dr Clare Redmond discusses how to manage a situation where a patient asks to be discharged

Dr Aidan O’Donnell discusses his experiences of working in anaesthetics.

Situations where a doctor is both an employer and the treating clinician of a patient are problematic and should be avoided. Sarah Pickering, advisory case manager at Medical Protection, looks at a recent query from the advice line

Medical Protection litigation solicitor Suzanne Tate looks at a claim involving a missed diagnosis of sepsis and the work of Medical Protection in successfully defending seven GP members

Competency, in professional terms, is defined as the ability to perform the tasks and roles required to the expected standard. It can be applied to a doctor at any stage in their career, not only to the newly qualified.