COVID-19: May healthcare practitioners ethically and legally refuse to work at hospitals and health establishments where frontline employees are not provided with personal protective equipment?

The purpose of this article is not to encourage health practitioners to refuse to assist COVID-19 patients if they are not provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) at the workplace. It is to encourage them to advocate for PPE by pointing out that in South Africa (SA), health establishments that fail to provide them with PPE will be held ethically and legally responsible for the deaths of any patients ­ not health practitioners ­ if as a last resort such health professionals have to withdraw their services to protect other patients, themselves, their families and their colleagues. The article refers to the World Medical Association, World Health Organization and Health Professions Council of SA guidelines regarding the use of PPE during the COVID-19 epidemic, especially in the case of shortages. All the guidelines state that the safety of healthcare workers is a priority if they are to care for their patients properly. Mitigation measures are suggested, but do not extend to failing to provide PPE to those healthcare workers who deal directly with patients. The law protects all workers, who have a constitutional and statutory right to a working environment that is not harmful and does not threaten their health and safety. The article concludes that as a last resort, if the international and national ethical guidelines and legal rules are not being followed regarding PPE and advocacy attempts to persuade health establishments to provide PPE fail, and healthcare workers are exposed to the COVID-19 virus, they may ethically and legally withhold their services. These points should be made when health practitioners are advocating for PPE

COVID-19 and its impact on informed consent: What should health professionals tell their patients or their proxies?

Given the increasing number of ethical and legal issues arising from the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on informed consent by patients, it is necessary for health professionals to explain to patients how the measures taken to combat the spread of the virus impact on their right to give informed consent. Patients need to be reassured that wherever possible, health professionals are ethically bound to obtain informed consent from patients before they subject them to diagnostic testing and treatment, but at the same time, have to comply with the demands of the law. While the South African Constitution, statutory law and the common law all recognise a person's right to consent before being subjected to treatment or surgical operations, it is necessary to take remedial steps, because of the dangers of spreading the potentially fatal COVID-19 virus, to prevent this. Such steps may involve compelling patients to be screened, tested and treated ­ sometimes without their consent. Guidance is given to healthcare professionals on how they should counsel their patients, and what they should tell patients about the impact of the COVID-19 regulations on healthcare professionals' ethical and legal duties regarding the obtaining of informed consent, as well as on whether, if asked, employers can compel their employees to undergo testing without consent, and what to tell patients about this

May a sample be legally removed or an autopsy undertaken without an advance directive or proxy consent to determine whether a critical care patient at risk of COVID-19 infection has died as a result of the virus?

It has recently been suggested that ethically and legally the obtaining of biological samples for research after death during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa justifies a waiver of consent followed by a deferred proxy consent. However, it is submitted that because deceased persons are not protected by the Constitution, and only partially protected by common law and statute law, such consent and the need for consent to autopsies may be dispensed with altogether under the common law doctrine of 'necessity'. It is pointed out that such information is in the public interest because it will inform critical care facilities on how to save lives of future patients and assist government in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by adequate planning. It is also reasonably justifiable in the public interest to ascertain the COVID-19 status of deceased persons who may have been exposed to the virus, in order to protect their family, friends, healthcare practitioners, undertakers and staff members, and members of the public with whom they have been in contact. Finally, it is suggested that the law can be clarified by amending the Disaster Management COVID-19 regulations to do away with consent for such autopsies or tissue sample collections from deceased persons exposed to the risk of contracting the virus, subject to certain conditions

COVID-19 and patient-doctor confidentiality

Given the increasing numbers of ethical and legal issues arising from the COVID-19 epidemic, particularly in respect of patient-doctor confidentiality, doctors must explain to patients how the measures taken to combat the spread of the virus impact on their confidentiality. Patients must be reassured that doctors are ethically bound to continue to respect such confidentiality, but it should be made clear to them that doctors must also comply with the demands of the law. While the Constitution, statutory law and the common law all recognise a person's right to privacy, during extraordinary times such as the COVID-19 pandemic, confidentiality must be breached to a degree to halt the spread of the virus

Palliative care ethical guidelines to assist healthcare practitioners in their treatment of palliative care patients

At the request of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), draft ethical guidelines on palliative care (the draft guidelines) have been produced, to assist healthcare practitioners in their treatment of palliative care patients. These have been submitted to the HPCSA, which has circulated them for comment by the boards and other relevant stakeholders. This article provides a wider audience,including healthcare practitioners and patients involved in palliative care, an opportunity to comment on the draft guidelines.Suggestions should be sent to the corresponding author for onward transmission to the HPCSA