interesting topic asked at interview

[annie133]

hey,
just thought id tell you all about an interesting ethical sceanario i was asked about at my manchester interview recently.
it was what do you think are the pros/cons of making information available to other hospitals and doctors when an error occurs by doctor, which may hav resulted in death of a patient and may have been due to errors in the teaching or common practise of a hosptial?
i said that pros were- that it may improve patient care, identifies errors within hospitals so that they can be erradicated and draws attention to it-instead of just being covered up, reduce errors from the system and mean that those errors can be corrected instead of ignored so that future fatalities wouldnt occur, may mean doctors are more wary of making mistakes and take more care.
and the cons were that it would have implications to the doctors name and hospital, even if it had been a one time occurance and this may lead to people being more selective in where they go for treatment and which doctor can carry out each procedure etc, that the error could well be due to human error- everyone makes some mistakes and where do u draw the line with condemming someone for their mistakes.

then i had to say what i think would be the best solution- confidental way of saying about errors and regular assessment would be more efficient as the main purpose for a doctor is to do their best and alleviate patient problems.

just curious as to what everyone else would have said as i hadnt really thought about this before? x

[irovonne]

I believe you said it all. I wouldnt have said anymore. Thanks for sharing that
it seems like the unis can just ask random question, SCARY!!

[JP_62818]

Yeah I wouldn't have said anything else. By the way, that's a great answer for someone who's never thought about it before, v impressive! Hopefully you should do well.
JamieP