Liverpool Care Pathway - The Hippocratic Oath Has Been Suspended

Mr. Hunt has formally suspended the Hippocratic Oath. There are many doctors who think it 'cool' and think themselves 'cool' who would say, So what...?

Dr. Christian Jessen tweeted -

Robert Francis, Chairman of the Mid-Staffs Inquiry, said that a top priority was for the NHS constitution to be rewritten to put patients first and that everything done by the NHS should be informed by this ethos.

He recommended that the Health Secretary should also insist that NHS staff “put patients before themselves”.

These two recommendations enshrined in the NHS constitution would have enshrined the precepts of the Hippocratic Oath within the NHS.

The Telegraph reports -

FOOTNOTES:

Hippocratic Oath: One of the oldest binding documents in history, the Oath written by Hippocrates is still held sacred by physicians: to treat the ill to the best of one's ability, to preserve a patient's privacy, to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation...

THE DUTIES OF A DOCTOR REGISTERED WITH THE GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL:“Patients must be able to trust doctors with their lives and health. To justify that trust you must show respect for human life.”