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Welcome to Medical Protection’s guide to professionalism, a publication that takes a closer look at what it means to be a professional.

Why are medicolegal issues important?

Patients who are kept informed about their condition and are involved in deciding on the appropriate treatment are more likely to comply with the treatment you suggest, and less likely to complain if things go wrong.

The medical consultation is a challenge to both doctor and patient, whether in the community or in hospital. The need for more detailed discussions with patients, along with their increasing autonomy and right to make choices in relation to their clinical care and treatment, has affected the traditional role of the doctor-patient relationship. This has made maintaining appropriate professional boundaries in the doctor-patient consultation more challenging, however, the guidance from national and regulatory bodies is clear that it is always the health professional's responsibility to do so.

This video looks at a scenario where a patient brought a claim against three GPs in the same surgery, and how understanding the varied claims enabled us to support the doctors throughout the whole process.

Dr W faces a regulatory hearing after a delayed diagnosis – find out how record-keeping helped the defence.

Mrs D presents to her GP Dr N with a long-standing lesion on her scalp. Dr N removes it but what has he missed?

An inquest is a fact-finding exercise that is conducted by the Coroner and, in some cases, in front of a jury. The purpose of an inquest is to find out who the person was and, how, when and where they died. This factsheet gives further information about what happens at an inquest.