The New Zealand Medical Association has traditionally undertaken the task of providing a Code of Ethics for the medical profession. The Code lays down principles of ethical behaviour, applicable to all doctors including those who may not be engaged directly in clinical practice. It also includes recommendations for ethical practice.
The NZMA urges Members and ALL doctors to follow the standards set out below.
For a background on the development of the Code of Ethics, please see here for the Preliminary Statement.
The Code can also be downloaded (PDF document) here.
Principles
All medical practitioners, including those who may not be engaged directly in clinical practice, will acknowledge and accept the following Principles of Ethical Behaviour:
- Consider the health and well being of the patient to be your first priority.
- Respect the rights, autonomy and freedom of choice of the patient.
- Avoid exploiting the patient in any manner.
- Practise the science and art of medicine to the best of your ability with moral integrity, compassion and respect for human dignity.
- Protect the patient’s private information throughout his/her lifetime, and following death, unless there are overriding considerations in terms of public interest or patient safety.
- Strive to improve your knowledge and skills so that the best possible advice and treatment can be offered to the patient.
- Adhere to the scientific basis for medical practice while acknowledging the limits of current knowledge and contributing responsibly to innovation and research.
- Honour the profession, its values and its principles in the ways that best serve the interests of patients.
- Recognise your own limitations and the special skills of others in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of disease.
- Accept a responsibility to assist in the protection and improvement of the health of the community.
- Accept a responsibility to advocate for adequate resourcing of medical services and assist in maximising equitable access to them across the community.
- Accept a responsibility for maintaining and improving the standards of the profession.
Recommendations
Given the complexities of doctor-patient relationships, and the increasing difficulties brought about by the need for rationing of resources and direct intervention of third-party providers of funding, no set of guidelines can cover all situations. The following set of recommendations is designed to convey an overall pattern of professional behaviour consistent with the principles set out above in the Code of Ethics.
This code will undergo major review by May 2019. However, minor changes may be introduced before then in response to further alterations in the environment in which medicine is practiced. To this end, the NZMA welcomes feedback and comment on this code at any time.
