Medico-legal knowledge of general practitioners: disjunctions, errors and uncertainties

This article discusses a survey of Victorian general practitioners which investigated doctors' legal knowledge, the impact of law on clinical practice, doctors' current medico-legal information sources and their legal education needs and preferences. Knowledge of legal standards was investigated in relation to three areas: disclosure of risk; ownership of, and access to, medical records; and proxy decision-making. Additionally, the impact of statutory reform in relation to proxy decision-making was explored. Further, doctors' past experience of medico-legal education, current sources of medico-legal information and preferences concerning future medico-legal information were explored. Results indicated that overall, respondents had a very inadequate understanding of relevant law and that relevant statutory standards have had little impact on clinical practice. Professional bulletins and journals were identified as major current legal information sources, whilst printed materials, seminars and conferences were preferred sources of legal information. The authors conclude that there is a significant disjunction between legal standards and doctors' awareness of those standards, thereby creating a significant source of liability for doctors. Results highlight an urgent need to develop legal education programs for general practitioners based on doctors' identified needs and preferences.