Doctors' knowledge of socio-legal aspects of patient care.
Doctors' knowledge of socio-legal aspects of patient care is poor. To quantify this a questionnaire on certain socio-legal topics was sent to 400 general practitioners and 250 hospital doctors. The responses were compared to a group of social workers. Both hospital doctors and general practitioners did badly on all topics considered. Social workers' knowledge was significantly better overall, (P < 0.01). Our results confirm the lack of knowledge amongst a broad spectrum of doctors. We suggest that this may be related to a lack of emphasis on these aspects in both undergraduate and postgraduate education.
Benbow
S J
SJ
Department of Geriatric Medicine, Royal Liverpool Hospital.
King
D
D
Barrett
J A
JA
D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005194:Family Practice; D006801:Humans; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D010820:Physicians; D006113:United Kingdom