BMA core ethics guidance on-line resource launched

The BMA has just published a new core ethics guidance resource for both medical students and practising doctors. This brings together the BMA’s core ethics toolkits in a single, easy to search and navigate resource with a simple URL (www.bma.org.uk/core-ethics). This replaces the BMA’s handbook of ethics and law (Medical Ethics Today).

Replacing the book with an online resource makes the information more accessible – at any time of the day or night – and makes it much easier to update, as individual ‘chapters’ (toolkits) can be updated as and when the need arises.

The topics covered are:

How to approach an ethical question

Common ethical dilemmas in the doctor-patient relationship

Consent and refusal of treatment by adults with decision-making capacity

Mental capacity – England and Wales; Scotland; and Northern Ireland

Children and young people

Confidentiality and health records

Other ethics guidance and resources from the BMA

Teachers of medical ethics who currently refer to the BMA’s guidance on their reading lists may wish to replace Medical Ethics Today with a link to this new core ethics guidance, which is freely accessible at: https://www.bma.org.uk/core-ethics