Conference helps surgical trainees get to grips with ethical issues

01 Oct 2012

More than 100 surgeons in training attended the joint Medical Protection Society (MPS) and Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) conference – Getting to grips with law and ethics – on Friday. The conference gave an insight into the challenges of complex ethical and medicolegal issues, and ways to aid safer practice within surgical specialties.

MPS and ASiT have extensive experience in helping surgical trainees deal with medicolegal issues and hosted the conference to prepare them for the key ethical issues common to their specialty.

MPS received nearly 200 calls to its advice line from surgical trainees over the last year, asking for assistance on a range of issues from GMC investigations and report-writing to inquests, consent and adverse incidents.

Dr Pallavi Bradshaw, medicolegal adviser at MPS and speaker at the conference said 'The conference was an opportunity to provide insight and provoke discussion around important ethical and medicolegal issues facing surgical trainees; these included obtaining valid consent, managing professional boundaries and preventing and managing adverse events. Surgical trainees are dedicated to providing exceptional clinical care, however having the understanding and ability to deal with an ethical dilemma can be just as important. How you handle a clinical experience or miscommunication can be the difference between a satisfied patient, and a dissatisfied patient who could make a complaint.'

In a survey conducted by ASiT prior to the conference, nearly one in ten trainee surgeons stated that they had been involved in a clinical malpractice case, and of those 85% didn’t feel prepared for the process.¹

In addition, the ASiT survey revealed that trainees felt that consent was the most important area of law and ethics. Dr Bradshaw added, 'In our experience of claims in surgical specialties, consent is the key reason for settlement of a claim by MPS, second only to surgical technique and diagnosis. Issues around consent account for one in ten settled surgical claims.² Respect for a patient’s autonomy is enshrined in both statute and common law. If this fundamental principle is disregarded it can result in distress for the patient and charges of professional misconduct against the surgeon. It is therefore essential for both parties that valid consent is obtained prior to any procedure.

The success of the joint conference highlights an impressive understanding by those attending, that medical law and ethics is as important to master as surgical prowess. We hope that we have provided surgical trainees with the skills and awareness to manage the ever evolving ethical and legal landscapes they will encounter throughout their careers.'

More information

For further information please contact Kim Watson, Press Officer at +44 207 399 1409 or email [email protected]

Notes to editors

1. ASiT conducted a survey of 618 surgical trainees into the provision of teaching in medical law and ethics (2012). For additional findings from this survey please contact Jonathan Wild, Vice President of ASiT, at [email protected]
2. This figure is taken from a study of over 800 claims settled over the last four years on behalf of MPS member worldwide, in a range of surgical specialties. An article on the study can be found in MPS’s Casebook (May 2012) – Closing the loop: lessons from surgical cases 
3. The joint MPS and ASiT conference – Getting to grips with law and ethics – was held at the Royal College of Surgeons of England on Friday 28 September 2012. Professor Norman Williams, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England was the keynote speaker at the conference. For a copy of the conference summary please contact Kim Watson on [email protected].
4. MPS has produced a factsheet on consent; Consent – the basics.