Medical Ethics for Healthcare Professionals

About this course

This course examines the ethics that guide safe, fair and compassionate healthcare. It works through the four core principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice, how to identify and manage ethical dilemmas in practice, the link between professionalism and ethical conduct, the consequences of breaching ethical standards, and the reflection and remediation needed to rebuild trust and demonstrate accountability.

Its focus is applied clinical ethics: what the principles mean when they collide at the bedside. It uses the hard cases that UK professionals actually meet, such as refusal of life-sustaining treatment, resuscitation decisions, disclosure of confidential information to protect others, conscientious objection and allocation of scarce resources, and explains the law and regulatory guidance that shape the answers. It is designed for all UK healthcare professionals, including those facing an investigation or fitness to practise process.

CPD Value and How to Record It:

This course is designed to provide approximately 3 hours of learning, including reading, the reflection points, the reflective account and the assessment. In the UK, CPD is generally recorded as the time actually spent learning, so you should record the time you genuinely spend, which may be more or less than the estimate.

How the course fits your revalidation or CPD requirements depends on your regulator. For example, the NMC asks nurses, midwives and nursing associates to record 35 hours of CPD over three years, of which at least 20 must be participatory; self-directed online learning such as this course usually counts as individual learning unless you complete it with others. The GMC expects doctors to reflect on CPD for appraisal and revalidation rather than setting a fixed number of hours. The HCPC, GDC, GPhC, GOC, GOsC and GCC each set their own CPD requirements, so check the current rules that apply to you. Always keep your certificate together with your written reflection.

What you will learn

• Understand the core principles of medical ethics: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice.
• Recognise the importance of professionalism in upholding ethical standards.
• Learn how to identify and manage ethical dilemmas in practice.
• Understand the consequences of breaching ethical standards for patients, professionals and the profession.
• Develop reflective practice skills to learn from ethical challenges and improve future conduct.
• Learn strategies for effective remediation to rebuild trust and demonstrate accountability.
• Align practice with the ethical and regulatory standards set by the healthcare regulators.

Who this course is for

All UK healthcare professionals, including those facing an investigation or fitness to practise process.

Course content

9 sections · 3 CPD hours · 15 MCQs

Course facts

CPD value

Approximately 3 CPD hours (estimated learning time, including reflection and assessment)

Format

Self-paced reading built around clinical dilemmas, a structured decision method, reflection points and a written reflective account

Standards covered

Regulators' standards and GMC guidance on consent, confidentiality and end of life care; key UK case law on capacity, best interests, resuscitation decisions, confidentiality and conscientious objection; the current law on assisted dying; Mental Health Act 2025; research ethics; resource allocation; artificial intelligence

Assessment

15 scenario-based multiple-choice questions; pass mark 12 out of 15 (80%)

Questions about this course