Here we look at some of the characteristics commonly associated with a professional person; as a doctor, these are perhaps the minimum expectations patients have of you.

An inquest is a fact-finding exercise that is conducted by the coroner and, in some cases, in front of a jury. The purpose of an inquest is to find out who died – when, where, how and in what circumstances. This factsheet gives further information about what happens at an inquest.

Ophthalmology is a unique field, so the advice you receive needs to be equally specialised. When you are a Medical Protection member, you benefit from more than 130 years of experience defending doctors and other healthcare professionals. That isn’t just a number – it’s more than 13 decades of specialist expertise that we use to protect you long into the future.

Proposed merger of nine regulators should focus on fairness and accountability, not cost-cutting, says Medical Protection Senior Medicolegal Adviser Dr Pallavi Bradshaw

Patients overtly coerced into undergoing treatment they do not want can rightly claim that their “consent” was not given freely and is therefore not valid. Cases of overt coercion are rare, but there are circumstances in which patients may feel that they have been covertly pushed into accepting treatment they would prefer not to have had. For example, in some circumstances patients may find it very difficult to say “No” to the proposed treatment, or to challenge the doctor’s assumption that they would have no objections to going ahead.

Each assessment of an individual’s capacity should relate to a specific decision – a patient may, for example, be incapable of understanding the complex implications of a major procedure but still be able to comprehend the risks and benefits of a simple intervention. While the general principles are the same across the UK, the actual test for capacity is slightly different, depending on the jurisdiction.

Whether it’s a revised piece of GMC guidance, or a Bill going through the Scottish Parliament, we use our expertise to inform debates about changes that could affect your practice.

In this series we explore the key risk areas in general practice

Dr Michael Rayment and Dr Ann Sullivan, Department of Sexual Health and HIV Medicine, Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust (on behalf of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, and the British HIV Association).

Nasogastric tubes are widely used in the world’s hospitals, yet in spite of fierce campaigning to expose the dangers, patients are still dying from the complications of wrongful insertion.

Over half of respondents to an MPS survey admitted to regret over their failure to raise concerns in the workplace. Gareth Gillespie looks at how obstacles to whistleblowing can be overcome.

When treating a patient who has reached the end of life, clear communication and collective decision-making are as important as any clinical intervention, says Sarah Whitehouse

Last year a French psychiatrist was charged with manslaughter after failing to recognise the danger posed by her patient. Sara Williams investigates how to balance the interests of risky patients and the public