Whether it’s a revised piece of GMC guidance, or a Bill going through the Scottish Parliament, we use our expertise to inform debates about changes that could affect your practice.

In this series we explore the key risk areas in general practice

Dr Michael Rayment and Dr Ann Sullivan, Department of Sexual Health and HIV Medicine, Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust (on behalf of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, and the British HIV Association).

MPS has seen a steady rise in the number of claims involving practice nurses, with ‘delay in diagnosis’ being the most common type of claim. Kate Taylor, Clinical Risk Manager, MPS Educational Services, reveals more

Over half of respondents to an MPS survey admitted to regret over their failure to raise concerns in the workplace. Gareth Gillespie looks at how obstacles to whistleblowing can be overcome.

Unemployment reduces wellbeing. Recession raises the demands on healthcare systems and makes it harder to pay for them. Doctors worldwide are having to adapt and change to cope with these additional pressures, says Sarah Whitehouse

Complaints to the regulator against doctors have hit a record high, rising more sharply than for any other health professional. Is this down to poor practice or a changing complaints culture? Sara Williams investigates

Consent is a fundamental principle of medical law. The basic rule is simple: no-one has the right to touch anyone else without lawful excuse and if doctors do so it may well undermine patients’ trust.

I wake up bolt upright at 5.30am. I look in the mirror and realise I’ve inadvertently left my false eyelashes on from the previous day’s telly. They hang rather precariously from my upper lids – my mascara is half way down my cheeks and my hair is doing a good impersonation of Jedward. My husband rolls over and states that I look like a drag queen and promptly falls back to sleep.

All doctors know that maintaining confidentiality is an important part of building up trust with patients. Here, Dr Stephanie Bown examines the medicolegal aspects of confidentiality

As a collective whole, doctors are regarded as “professionals” both by the public and by their peers. They remain the most trusted profession among the public, which has been the case for many years. Individually, some doctors may fall short of the mark. But what do we mean by professionalism? And how much bearing does this definition have on the behaviours expected of a doctor? Firstly, we need to be clear about exactly what a profession is.

Today’s doctors are working in a constantly evolving environment, where many of the old expectations regarding the role of doctors, nurses and patients are being replaced by new ones. The roles themselves are changing – doctors are clinicians, leaders, teachers, managers, commissioners and purchasers of services.

Any doctor who specialises in a particular field would be expected to keep up-todate in that area. This would apply to all fields of medicine. Surgeons with a special interest would be expected to keep up-to-date with developments both in the field of general surgery and their area of special interest.

Patient A: I’ve got a very good GP now, I have got a GP who actually knows what fibromyalgia is, he’s prepared just to sit and listen, he listens a lot, he’ll let me try new medications, obviously because of my science background I probably know more about fibromyalgia than he does because I read so much in research papers, but he’s very willing to let me be a guinea pig and to work with me, which I think is important with a doctor/patient relationship, you’ve got to work on this path of chronic pain together.

Sometimes, when an adverse incident occurs, the GMC can take action if a doctor’s fitness to practise is called into question, which could be due to: