From an ethical perspective, the value of reliability is a prerequisite for successful risk management. This value is associated with safety culture as it refers to physical, mental and cultural safety. Therefore, the responsibility of managers is to create mental and physical safety environments based on openness to promote patient safety and quality of care. In addition, it is important for managers to foster multidisciplinary collaboration to enable transparent reporting (10). There is common legal terminology that a radiation therapist should be familiar with. As we begin our review of the legal issues facing the radiation therapist, it is instructive to provide a general overview. The most important legal concept is that of due diligence. Due diligence refers to a set of good medical practices expected of healthcare workers. Simply put, healthcare workers are required to provide services to patients to the best of their ability. The legal doctrine Res Ipsa Loquitor is also a Latin term. The Latin term translates as “The thing that speaks for itself.” This term refers to situations where no additional questions or explanations are needed for someone to understand what happened.
The main term here is “exclusive control”. Despite different patient safety policies and standards, less attention is paid to the ethical and legal aspects of this issue. From a moral perspective, the primary goal of patient safety in the healthcare system can be examined from two perspectives. It can be studied as a practical value, in that the focus is on its positive results and benefits. It can also be examined as a moral value with an emphasis on the protection and promotion of humanity and human dignity. It should be emphasized that both aspects are important in the health care system. From a professional perspective, moral values in patient safety are not separated from core medical obligations, but are so central that they can be the source of other moral values emphasized in medicine. This means that patient safety is closely linked to the concept of human dignity and that all patient safety measures must ensure the protection of human dignity (10). In other words, the responsibility of health workers and professional commitment in general are closely linked to human dignity (11). “All approaches to medical ethics, whether empirical, legal, sociological, theological or philosophical, should aim to be useful in practice. Good medical ethics should help inform and guide those directly involved in moral issues in medicine and health care.
This means that, above all, good medical ethics are clinically relevant. [24] “You have to reconcile idealism and pragmatism, how much is feasible and how much you have to try. [25] It is important that medical ethics not become archaic and impracticable laws; But science-based, achievable, ethical-minded guidelines should be updated regularly. The health sector is subject to rules, regulations, laws and ethical standards. Laws are designed to protect individuals when making decisions about their health care. In addition, they also define the responsibilities of health professionals. In their article “Psychiatrists in Court: Indian Scenario”[9], the authors discuss the legal aspects of psychiatric care when psychiatrists are invited as experts. They are of the opinion that “psychiatric residents often do not come into direct contact with court proceedings.” There may be three reasons for this. First, many residents are trained in psychiatric units in general hospitals (especially private colleges) that are not directly attached to forensic psychiatric units.
They have a peripheral deployment of only about 2 to 4 weeks in such centers. Second, residents who are physicians-in-training work under faculty supervision; Therefore, honourable courts do not consider them provable. Third, faculty members are not allowed to involve them in the legal aspects of patient care because they believe it is not their responsibility. At my workplace, a public tertiary hospital, psychiatric residents are regularly involved in the legal aspects of patient care. Faculty should ensure that residents are actively involved in the legal aspect of patient care, such as medical committees, discharge committee meetings, certification, etc. Only if they are exposed at this stage of their career, once they have left their place of residence, will they be able to deal with such problems independently. The Mental Health Care Act, 2017 (MHCA 2017)[1] explicitly addresses the rights of patients with mental illness (PWMI) and sets out the ethical and legal responsibilities of mental health professionals and government. PWMI rights are on par with fundamental human rights and must be clearly taken into account, as they belong to a vulnerable group in terms of assessment, treatment and research.
These rights are reflected in the ethics of psychiatric care, which refers to respect for autonomy; the principle of non-evil, charity and justice; confidentiality (and disclosure); border offences; informed consent (and involuntary treatment); etc.[2,3] I will discuss ethical, legal and related issues related to the manuscripts published in this issue of the journal. For patients with severe intellectual disability, dementia, and obvious severe and persistent mental illnesses such as severe psychoses at risk of flight, few of my psychiatrist colleagues suggested the use of metal bracelets (kadas that are religiously acceptable) with engraved details (name, phone numbers, and address of the patient and caregiver) during an armchair discussion; Group; and implants, gadgets, watches and chips with GPS tracking device and trackers.