Recommendations from the Code of Ethics for the New Zealand Medical Profession.

1. Doctors have both a right and a responsibility to maintain their own health and well being at a standard that ensures that they are fit to practise.
2. Doctors should seek guidance and assistance from colleagues and professional or healthcare organisations whenever they are unable to function in a competent, safe and ethical manner. When approached in this way, doctors should provide or facilitate such assistance.
3. Doctors should ensure that their personal conduct does not risk adversely affecting their reputation or that of the profession.
4. Doctors have a responsibility to assist colleagues who are unwell or under stress. Doctors have a general responsibility for the safety of patients and should therefore take appropriate steps to ensure unsafe or unethical practices on the part of colleagues are curtailed and/or reported to relevant authorities without delay.
5. Doctors should seek to improve their standards of medical care through continuing self-education and thoughtful interaction with appropriate colleagues.
6. Doctors have a responsibility to participate in reviewing their own practice and that of others, and to develop a critical attitude towards accepted and traditional practice.
7. When appropriate, doctors should make available to colleagues, with the knowledge of the patient, a report or summary of their findings and treatment relating to that patient.
8. When working in a team environment, doctors have a responsibility to behave co-operatively and respectfully towards team members.
9. Doctors should recognise that the doctor/patient relationship has a value and should not be disturbed without compelling reasons. Disruption of such a relationship should, wherever possible, be discussed in advance with an independent colleague.
10. Doctors should avoid impugning the reputations of colleagues. In normal circumstances, information about colleagues divulged as a part of quality assurance exercises (including peer groups) should remain confidential.
11. Doctors have an obligation to draw the attention of relevant bodies to inadequate or unsafe services. Where doctors are working within a health service they should first raise issues in respect of that service through appropriate channels, including the organisation responsible for the service, and consult with colleagues before speaking publicly.
12. Doctors should not countenance, condone or participate in the practice of torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading procedures, no matter what offence the victim of such procedures is suspected, accused or guilty of.
13. Doctors should not use secret remedies.
14. Advances and innovative approaches to medical practice should be subject to review and promulgation through professional channels (including ethics committees) and medical scientific literature. Doctors should accept responsibility for providing the public with carefully considered, generally accepted opinions when presenting scientific knowledge. In presenting any personal opinion contrary to a generally held viewpoint of the profession, doctors must indicate that such is the case and present information fairly.
15. Doctors should exercise caution when using social media in a professional or private capacity. The risk of boundary violations in this area is considerable. All the ethical obligations set out in this Code, such as confidentiality and appropriate doctor-patient relationships, are applicable to social media.