Ethics, Law, and Medical Practice

There are acceptable means of informing prospective patients and professional colleagues of the establishment of practice. For general practitioners this will usefully include an information sheet or brochure about the services offered. General practitioners new to a community should visit local pharmacists, hospitals, hostels, nursing homes, domiciliary nursing services, hospice services and other doctors, thereby learning about the community while making the practice known.

It is very important also in the development and running of successful medical practices that doctors take positive steps to integrate into the local community, to provide time to be spent with their families and on leisure activities and for continuing their medical education. Doctors who achieve this are also far less likely to suffer the stress-related problems discussed in Chapter 10.

1 "'Patient power. Working with your doctor.'" Choice Magazine. Australian Consumer's Association, August 1995, 6-13.

2 Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Practice Management Committee. Running a successful general practice. Melbourne: RACGP, 1995.

3 Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Practice Management Committee. Planning a successful general practice. Melbourne: RACGP, 1994.

4 Clarke C W. Setting up in Private Practice as a Consultant Physician. Royal Australasian College of Physicians Fellowship Affairs, Sept 1991, pp 17-18 and 31.

5 Burton A W. Medical Ethics and the Law 3rd ed. Glebe, New South Wales: Australasian Medical Publishing Co, 1979.

6 1996 Entry Standards for General Practice (Draft), Melbourne: RACGP 1995.

7 Gawthorn E C. RACGP handbook for medical receptionists. 5th ed. Melbourne: RACGP, 1995.

8 Magennis A (ed) Sterilisation/disinfection guidelines for general practice. 2nd edn. Melbourne: RACGP, 1994.

9 Infection control in office practice: medical, dental and allied health. Report of the joint NHMRC/ANCA Infection Control Review Group. Canberra: AGPS, 1994.

Department of Community Services and Health. Going into practice, Canberra: AGPS, 1987.

Edwards P, Jones S, Williams S. Business and health planning far general practice. Oxford: Radcliffe Medical Press, 1994.

Kotler P, Bloom P. Marketing professional services. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984.

-195-