Case Study Examples
Case studies exploring the following ethical and legal issues in clinical practice can be found on the UK Clinical Ethics Network website:
- Who should get an intensive care bed?
- A competent patient refuses treatment
- Breaching confidentiality to protect others.
Key legal and ethical issues are highlighted in the following short video clips provided on the Ministry of Ethics website.
- Police & RTA Consent (consent, incapacity)
- Non-Accidental Injury (Child protection, breach of confidentiality in public interest)
- HIV Part 1 (Informed consent, confidentiality and breach in public interest, duty of care)
- Blood transfusion (consent, confidentiality, incapacity)
- Needlestick Injury (consent, confidentiality, incapacity)
- 14 year old and contraception (consent, confidentiality)
- Dealing with authorities (confidentiality and breach of confidentiality).
These have have been designed for doctors, although the scenarios also have implications for advanced practitioners. You might want to discuss these clips with your colleagues. Please note that English law is mainly used in these videos, the law differs in Scotland in consent for children and young people and incapacity.
