CHSS visiting Darzi Fellow Dr James Hadlow (pictured) and CHSS Clinical Professor Chris Farmer have written a timely article on Digital Healthcare, newly published in the New Statesman Tech. The fascinating piece raises ethical and moral questions about a ‘digital future’ which is already with us, highlighting the vital importance of meaningful patient engagement in this area. Work is being done to define ‘good vs bad’ technology, but more needs to be done to decide what good and bad means for patients.
‘As clinicians we have a responsibility to do the best for our patients. Proper engagement of our patients to ensure fully informed consent is imperative. It is not good enough to innovate without engaging the public or properly considering the moral and ethical dilemmas which might arise as the result of their design and implementation. This duty lies not only with technologists and scientists, but also with clinical staff to exercise their own moral judgement in the appropriate use of these technologies’.
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