Reassessing 'good' medical practice and the climate crisis.

In August 2023, the General Medical Council released the latest update of Good Medical Practice, which sets out the standards of patient care and professional behaviour to be expected of UK doctors. These updated guidelines offer some environmental considerations that previous standards did not include. This paper explores these latest additions to Good Medical Practice through the healthcare ethics lens of non-maleficence, beneficence, justice and autonomy, alongside trust and physician well-being, to make the case that the latest updates to Good Medical Practice do not go far enough in specifying the duties for doctors in responding to climate and ecological emergencies to be seen as ethically justifiable.

Learning to lead through the climate crisis.

Background: The climate crisis is the biggest health crisis and social injustice of our time. The author critically reflects on the challenges of coming to terms with the realities of the climate crisis and what these mean for clinicians, educators and leaders in healthcare.

Methods: Using a framework of the personal, professional and the political, the author navigates what learning to lead through the climate crisis really means.