Decisions about access to care

Decisions about who receives care must involve no bias or discrimination. Good practice means the practitioner: (a) is respectful to patients always; (b) does not prejudice care because they believe the patient's conduct, mental health or other characteristics contributed to the condition; (c) does not discriminate in any form; (d) bases investigation and treatment on clinical need and on how well the proposal is likely to work, and neither supplies unneeded services nor promotes needless or indiscriminate use of health services; (e) keeps themselves and others safe, but does not deny care to a patient who poses a risk where reasonable steps can manage that risk; and (f) does not let a moral or religious position or a conscientious objection block a patient's access to care, while remaining free to decline personally, respectfully telling the patient (where relevant), the employer and relevant colleagues of the objection and making sure the patient can obtain the care elsewhere.

• Practice policy on non-discrimination in accepting and treating patients
• Record of a conscientious objection with the notice to the employer and the alternative care arrangement given to the patient
• Risk management plan used when treating a patient who posed a safety risk rather than refusing care
• Utilisation review of services billed against clinical indication

• Objection voiced without arranging an alternative provider for the patient
• Patients refused on grounds such as lifestyle or mental health history
• Servicing patterns show repeat services with no documented clinical need