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

But what are the rules surrounding this and what do doctors need to know?

Online prescription services offer great convenience to patients, but they also come with risks. What do you do if one of your patients has been taking medication prescribed online that you do not think they require? Dr Marika Davies, senior medicolegal adviser at Medical Protection, explores this issue.

Dr Rachel Birch, Medical Protection medicolegal adviser and Practice Matters editor-in-chief, answers some recent queries on cosmetic injections and vaccination errors.

This workshop has been developed to help nurses who are working in specialist roles to increase awareness of the potential for things to go wrong and to practice safely, particularly with regards to prescribing.

Consent is a fundamental principle of medical law. The basic rule is simple: no-one has the right to touch anyone else without lawful excuse and if doctors do so it may well undermine patients’ trust.

If you are unsure about a prescription, or mishear on a ward round, always seek clarification, never guess

Medication errors account for approximately 20% of all clinical negligence claims against doctors in both primary and secondary care. The costs associated with adverse events and inappropriate prescribing has been estimated at more than £750 million per year. This factsheet gives advice about avoiding prescribing errors.

This workshop has been developed to help nurses who are working in specialist roles to increase awareness of the potential for things to go wrong and to practice safely, particularly with regards to prescribing.

Like you, we believe that prevention is better than cure, so we aim to provide you with much more than a world-class defence. Our ethos is to work with members early on to identify risk and help reduce the likelihood of the problems occurring in the future.

Medication errors make up a fifth of all errors occurring in general practice and many of these are preventable. Extra care must be taken when repeat prescribing, especially if you were not the original prescriber and have not seen the patient. This factsheet outlines the pitfalls, and gives advice on avoiding errors.