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Should medical professionals be able to choose whom they treat?

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Greatnan Fri 26-Apr-13 12:13:41

There was a good discussion on The Wright Stuff this morning and a rather alarming statistic was given - that 45% of trainee doctors think they should be able to opt out of taking part in medical procedures if they don't approve of them.
The obvious example was of Catholic doctors and nurses not wanting to give care to women who have had abortions, but other examples were mentioned, such as Jehovah's Witnesses refusing to treat somebody who had received a blood transfusion, or a Catholic doctor refusing to treat a failed suicide.
My own view is that it would be absolute chaos if medical professionals were allowed to pick and choose their patients. What if a woman was bleeding to death after an abortion and the only doctor available was Catholic? This brought to mind the terrible case in Eire where an Indian woman was allowed to die because the doctors thought they could not give her a section because they could detect a fetal heart. She bled to death. Apparently, the doctors has 'misunderstood' the actual directive from the Vatican, which is very confusing.

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MiceElf Fri 26-Apr-13 22:24:58

You may well be right Greatnan. I know absolutely nothing about the way the medical profession is organised or if anyone might possibly find themselves in a very difficult position where a conflict could occur between what they believe to be morally right and something they would be expected to do as part of their duties. I imagine it would occur only in the most exceptional of circumstances, but this is where I would wish to have some input from those who know.

In the case of your niece, it seems to me to be wrong for any professional to impose their views on a patient or client. All any professional should do is to present the options. The decision is with the patient.

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nightowl Fri 26-Apr-13 23:01:14

Twenty-four years ago my GP struck me off because I insisted on having a second home birth, and he did not believe in them. He could have simply refused to provide my antenatal care; I would have had no problem with that, but I found it difficult to understand why he chose to also strike off my whole family including my husband and two children.

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