St. George's, University of London, London, UK.
St. George's, University of London, London, UK.
Leg Med (Tokyo). 2021 Jul;51:101880. doi: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2021.101880. Epub 2021 Apr 7.
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has highlighted discrepancies between surgeons' professional duties and legal protections when acting outside their specialities during the pandemic. These discrepancies between legal and professional standards leave surgeons and the NHS vulnerable to litigation. In the following article, we explore the liabilities that have arisen for surgeons during this period in the United Kingdom and Canada. We recommend, upon review of the literature, that a two-pronged approach be taken to address these discrepancies; (a) a change in policy at the national level to accurately reflect the constraints and demands placed upon the profession in this acute health crisis and (b) the provision of clearer, more stringent legal protection. In the interim, we suggest that individual surgeons utilise a decision-making framework where they consider their personal and professional obligations in regard to resource stewardship, innovation in practice, patient-specific contexts, and patient advocacy while acting outside of their speciality.
SARS-CoV-2 大流行凸显了外科医生在大流行期间超越专业范围时的专业职责和法律保护之间的差异。这些法律和专业标准之间的差异使外科医生和 NHS 容易受到诉讼。在本文中，我们探讨了在此期间在英国和加拿大出现的针对外科医生的责任。我们建议，在审查文献后，应采取双管齐下的方法来解决这些差异：(a) 在国家层面上改变政策，准确反映在这一急性健康危机中对该行业的限制和要求；(b) 提供更明确、更严格的法律保护。在此期间，我们建议个别外科医生使用决策框架，在该框架中，他们考虑个人和专业义务，以资源管理、实践创新、特定于患者的情况以及在专业范围之外为患者代言。
