Patients should be asked about best interests
Pharmacists should no longer be required by their Code of Ethics simply to “act in the best interests of patients”.
Responding to a Royal Pharmaceutical Society questionnaire on its Code
of Ethics (PDF 120K), the Company Chemists’ Association says
that it is no longer sufficient for pharmacists to act autonomously in
what
they
believe
to be a patient’s best interests. Instead, patients should be involved
in decision-making in order to find out what they consider their best
interests to be. Professional judgement alone should only be exercised
when patients
cannot be involved, due to incapacity or
infirmity.
Taking a wide view, the CCA says that the current code is not really
a code of ethics because it covers conduct and performance, too. This,
it warns, leads to a risk of misinterpretation of the ethics that underpins
the code. It adds: “A clearer, concise expression of the ethics
and professional judgement issued would simplify the code, although the
supplementary code of standards would be an essential companion.”
The CCA also believes that the code should be written in plain English
and that there should be a clear distinction between the code and any
supplemental guidance on practice or legislation. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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