Professional Ethics for Healthcare Professionals

About this course

This course examines the ethics that underpin safe, fair and compassionate healthcare. It works through the four core principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice, the components of professionalism, the causes and consequences of ethical breaches, and the reflection and remediation needed to put things right and rebuild trust.

A distinctive feature of the course is that it sets each principle alongside what the main UK healthcare regulators actually expect. Doctors, dentists and dental care professionals, nurses and midwives, allied health professionals and pharmacists are regulated by different bodies with differently worded standards, but the ethical core is strikingly similar. Seeing the standards side by side helps every professional understand their own duties more clearly and work better with colleagues from other professions. The course 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 2 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 importance of professional ethics in healthcare.
• Explore the core ethical principles: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice.
• Identify the key components of professionalism, such as integrity, honesty, accountability, compassion and professional boundaries.
• Recognise the causes of breaches of professional ethics.
• Understand the consequences of ethical breaches for patients, professionals and the healthcare system.
• Learn how to reflect on and address ethical breaches effectively.
• Explore strategies for remediation and rebuilding trust after a breach.
• Align practice with regulatory guidance and professional standards.

Who this course is for

All UK healthcare professionals, including those preparing for revalidation or renewal and those facing an investigation or fitness to practise process.

Social workers: this cross-profession course covers principles that apply across health and social care; most worked examples come from healthcare settings.

Course content

8 sections · 2 CPD hours · 15 MCQs

Course facts

CPD value

Approximately 2 CPD hours (estimated learning time, including reflection and assessment)

Format

Self-paced reading with cross-professional cases, regulator comparison tables, reflection points and a written reflective account

Standards covered

GMC Good medical practice (2024); GDC Standards for the Dental Team; NMC Code; HCPC Standards of conduct, performance and ethics (2024); GPhC Standards for pharmacy professionals; related law

Assessment

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

Questions about this course