Recent Articles & Resources on Professionalism in Healthcare Settings

In an era where market forces and a business ethos appear to have pervaded healthcare settings, whether it be in the public or the private sector, it is all too easy to forget the core principles of care and compassion that underlie clinical excellence and the delivery of the best possible outcomes for patients and their families (see www.reallylearning.com). The articles below all attempt to refocus the minds of clinicians, managers and politicians back to the core professional principles that have been present in medicine over the centuries, but which sadly seem sometimes to have been forgotten in the rush to put pounds before patients, costs before compassion, economics before excellence. His Royal Highness Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, has echoed similar sentiments (Prince Charles article).

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Anonymous (2013). After Mid Staffs: the NHS must do more to care for the health of its staff. BMJ, 346: f1503do1. PDF File

Ballatt J, Campling P. (2011). Intelligent Kindness: Reforming the Culture of Healthcare. London: Royal College of Psychiatry Publications.

Bochatay N, Bajwa N, Cullati S. et al. (2017). A multilevel analysis of professional conflicts in healthcare teams: insights for future training. Academic Medicine, 92: S84-92. PDF file

Boland, B. (2013). Rather than emulate Ofsted’s culture of fear, the UK care regulator must engage clinicians to improve standards. BMJ, 347: f4611 PDF File

Bolsin S, Saunders K. (2012). Evolving medical ethics. Trends in Urology & Men’s Health. May-June: 22-24. PDF File

Bourne T et al. (2015). The impact of complaints procedures on the welfare, health and clinical practice of 7926 doctors in the UK: a cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open4: 1-12. PDF File

Bourne T et al. (2017). Doctors’ perceptions of support and the processes involved in complaints investigations and how these relate to welfare and defensive practice: a cross-sectional survey of the UK physicians. BMJ Open, 7: e017856 PDF File

Brennan M, Monson V. (2014). Professionalism: Good for patients and for health care organizations. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 89: 644-52. PDF File

Brooks SK et al. (2017). The specific needs of doctors with mental health problems. Journal of Mental Health, 26: 161-66. PDF File

Brown N et al. (2014). Defining insight: a challenge that matters. The Clinical Teacher, 11: 170-3. PDF file

Burnes B, Pope R. (2007). Negative behaviours in the workplace. A study of two Primary Care Trusts in the NHS. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 20: 285-303. PDF File

Carter P, Jarman B. (2013). Who knew what, and when, at Mid Staffs? BMJ, 346: f726. PDF File

Chervenak, F. et al. (2012). The professional responsibility model of physician leadership. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Epub ahead of print. PDF File

Department of Health, London. (2013). Patients First and Foremost. The initial government response to the Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry. PDF File

Department of Health, London. (2013). Hard Truths. The journey to putting patients first. Volume 1 of the Government’s response to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry. PDF File

Department of Health, London. (2013). Hard Truths. The journey to putting patients first. Volume 2 of the Government’s response to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry. PDF File

Department of Health, London. (2013). The Government Response to the House of Commons Health Committee Third Report of Session 2013-14: After Francis: making a difference. PDF File

Department of Health, London. (2013). Hard Truths. The journey to putting patients first. Equality analysis. PDF File

Delamothe, T. (2013). Government’s initial response to Mid-Staffordshire Report. BMJ, 346: f2209. PDF File

Dixon-Woods M. et al. (2013). Culture and behaviour in the English National Health Service: overview of lessons from a large multimethod study. BMJ Quality & Safety, online first. PDF File

Doukas, D. et al. (2012). Perspective. Medical education in medical ethics and humanities as the foundation for developing medical professionalism. Academic Medicine, 87: 334-341.

Dyer, C. (2018). Hospital doctors face unfair disciplinary hearings, says defence organization. BMJ, April 2018. PDF File

Egener, B. et al. (2012). Perspective. Organizational professionalism: relevant competencies and behaviors. Academic Medicine, 87: 668-674.

Eisele, D. (2011). Professionalism: why it should matter to use. Archives of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, 137: 1071-1077. PDF File

Elkin, K. et al. (2012). Removal of doctors from practice for professional misconduct in Australia and New Zealand. BMJ Quality and Safety; 21: 1027-33. PDF File

Francis, R. (2013). Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry. Executive Summary. London. PDF File

Gabel, S. (2012). Perspective. Physician leaders and their bases of power: common and disparate elements. Academic Medicine, 87: 221-225.

Gardner, H. (2007). The ethical mind. Harvard Business Review. March issue.

Gardner, H. (1993). Mahatma Gandhi: A hold upon others. In: Creating Minds. An Anatomy of Creativity. New York, Basic Books.

Gardner, H. (1993). Mahatma Gandhi {abridged version of 1993 book chapter}. Creativity Research Journal; 6: 29-44. PDF File

See also the websites – www.goodworkproject.org & Medical applications of Goodwork Project

The 10-minute video clip below shows Howard Gardner, a psychologist and Harvard University Professor, outlining his Goodwork project.

(first 20 seconds of video has Dutch text on the screen)

Gerada, C. (2018). Doctors, suicide and mental illness. British Journal of Psychiatry Bulletin, 42: 165-68. PDF File

Halifax, J. (2013). Understanding and cultivating compassion in clinical settings. In: Singer T, Bolz M. (Eds). Compassion. Bridging Practice and Science. Max Planck Society, Germany. PDF File

Halligan, A. (2013). The Francis report: what you permit, you promote. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 106: 1116-117. PDF FIle

Hawkes, N. (2013). How the message from mortality figures was missed at Mid Staffs. BMJ, 346: f562. PDF File

Hendee, W. et al. (2012). Web modules on professionalism and ethics. Journal of the American College of Radiologists, 9: 170-173.

Holtman M. (2011). Paradoxes of professionalism and error in complex systems. Journal of Medical Informatics, 44: 395-401. PDF File

Horsfall, S. (2014). Doctors who commit suicide while under GMC Fitness to Practice investigation. Executive Summary. General Medical Council. PDF File

House of Commons Health Select Committee (2013). After Francis: making a difference. London: The Stationery Office Limited. PDF File

Hutchins, J. et al. (2010). Upholding professionalism. Neurology, 75: 2198-2203. PDF File

Iles, V. (2011). Why reforming the NHS doesn’t work. PDF File

Jacobs, M. (2009). The morality of innovation: A 20th century surgical legacy. Cardiology in the Young, 19: 118-121. PDF File

Jarman, B. (2012). When managers rule. Patients may suffer, and they are the ones that matter. BMJ, 345: e8239. PDF File

Kant A, Epstein C. (2010). Challenges to neurosurgical professionalism. Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery, 112: 839-43. PDF File

Kapur, N. (2009). On the pursuit of clinical excellence.  Clinical Governance: An International Journal, 14: 24-37. PDF File

Kapur, N. & Wilson, B. (2010). Aiming for excellence as an applied psychologist. The Psychologist, 23: 36-39. PDF File

Kapur, N. (2010). Bringing Gandhi to Science and Medicine. In: Mashelkar, R. (Ed). Timeless Inspirator: Reliving Gandhi. New Delhi: Gandhi National Memorial Society, pp. 228-237. PDF File

Kapur, N. (2013). Why NHS leaders should heed Gandhi’s message. Health Service Journal, April 19. PDF File

Kapur, N. (2013). The NHS could learn much from Gandhi’s teaching. BMJ, 346:f2411 PDF File

Kapur, N. (2013). On using Gandhi’s teachings to inspire charitable work. BMJ Blog, April 24. PDF File

Kapur, N. (2013). Care and compassion for NHS staff. Health Service Journal, June 28, 2013. Volume 123: 18. PDF File

Kapur, N. (2014). Mid-Staffordshire Hospital and the Francis Report. What does Psychology have to offer? The Psychologist, 27: 16-21. PDF File

Kapur, N. (2014). The NHS needs a staff support commission. Health Service Journal, June 27. PDF File

Kapur, N. (2014). The health secretary needs a psychologist appointment. Health Service Journal, November 5. PDF File

Kapur, N. (2018). ‘Kangaroo courts’ shame the NHS. Health Service Journal, August 2018. PDF file

Kapur, N. (2018, unpublished). Staff Incident Analysis Framework

Kim S, Bochatay N Relyea-Chew, A et al. (2017). Individual, interpersonal, and organizational factors in healthcare conflict: A scoping review. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 31: 282-290. PDF File

Kline R, Preston-Shoot M. (2012). Professional Accountability in Social Care and Health. London: Learning Matters.

Leape, J. et al. (2012). A culture of respect, Part 1: The nature and causes of disrespectful behaviour by physicians. Academic Medicine, 87 (7). PDF File

Leape, J. et al. (2012). A culture of respect, Part 2: Creating a culture of respect. Academic Medicine, 87 (7). PDF File

Lown B, Manning C. (2010). The Schwartz Center Rounds: Evaluation of an interdisciplinary approach to enhancing patient-centred communication, teamwork and provider support. Academic Medicine, 85: 1073-81. PDF File

Moisuc A, Brauer M, Fonseca A. et al. (2018). Individual differences in social control: Who ‘speaks up’ when witnessing uncivil, discriminatory, and immoral behaviours? British Journal of Social Psychology, 57: 524-46. PDF File

Mueller P. (2015). Teaching and assessing professionalism in medical learners and practising physicians. Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal, 6: 1-13. PDF File

Numerato D. et al. (2012). The impact of management on medical professionalism: a review. Sociology of Health and Illness, 34: 626-44. PDF File

Pope R, Burnes B. (2009). Looking beyond bullying to assess the impact of negative behaviours on healthcare staff. Nursing Times, 105: 20-24. PDF File

Royles D, Kapur N. (2016). A new way forward for disciplinaries. Health Service Journal, June 28. PDF File

Saunders J. (2013). Doctors and others: reflections on the first Francis Report. Clinical Medicine, 13: 132-5. PDF File

Seys D et al. (2013). Health care professionals as second victims after adverse events: a systematic review. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 36: 135-62. PDF File

Simon D. (2012). In Doubt. Harvard University Press. See also website for the book….www.indoubt.net

Simone, J. (2010). Hubris in medicine and academia. Oncology Times, 32: 5-6. PDF File

Thorlby R. (2014). The Francis Report: one year on. The Nuffield Trust, London. PDF File

Verhoef LM et al. (2015). The disciplined healthcare professional: a qualitative interview study. BMJ Open, 5: e009275 PDF File

Wachter, R. (2012). Disciplining doctors for misconduct: character matters, but so does competence. BMJ Quality and Safety, 21: 976-8 PDF File

Wachter, R. (2012). Personal accountability in healthcare: searching for the right balance. BMJ Safety and Quality, 1-5. PDF File

Weenink, J-W et al. (2017). Prevention of and dealing with poor performance: an interview study about how professional associations aim to support healthcare professionals. International Journal for Quality in Healthcare, 29: 838-44. PDF File

Wood, H. (2013). Mid Staffs shows what’s wrong with NHS management. BMJ, 346: 25. PDF File

Wu, A. et al. (2009). Disclosing medical errors to patients: It’s not what you say, it’s what they hear. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 24: 1012-7.