Some disturbing findings have emerged from a survey of the professionalism
of US and UK doctors. According to the journal BMJ Quality and Safety
 nearly a fifth of doctors in both the US and
UK had direct personal experience of an impaired or incompetent colleague in
the previous 3 years — but one-third in both countries had not reported this
colleague to a relevant authority.

More
than one-third of UK doctors did not report colleagues because they were afraid
of retribution, possibly reflecting unsympathetic treatment of whistleblowers
which has been widely reported in the British medical press.

The
authors said that it was surprising that only 80% of doctors strongly agreed
with the statement that “Doctors should put patients’ welfare above the
doctor’s own financial interests”. About 8% of doctors in both countries did
not agree that it was “never appropriate” to have a sexual relationship
with a patient.

Niall Dickson,CEO of the UK’s General Medical Council,
responded to the report: “Doctors have a clear duty to put patients’ interests
first and act to protect them; this includes raising concerns about colleagues
when necessary.” ~ London
Telegraph, Mar 7;

Michael Cook
professionalism
whisteblowing

• Author
• Recent Posts

Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

Latest posts by Michael Cook (see all)

• How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
• House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
• Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021