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Attitudes of mental health practitioners to the Hippocratic Oath: tradition and modernity in psychiatry

Coventry Teaching Primary Care Trust, The Caludon Centre, Clifford Bridge Road, Coventry CV2 2TE, email: marek.marzanski{at}coventrypct.nhs.uk

Tim Coupe, Clinical Audit/Effectiveness Officer

Padmapriya Musunuri, Senior House Officer

Coventry Teaching Primary Care Trust, The Caludon Centre, Coventry

Declaration of interest

None.

AIMS AND METHOD

To establish whether psychiatrists believe that medicine should be practised according to the principles of the Hippocratic Oath, an anonymised postal questionnaire survey was conducted of all medical staff at the Caludon Centre, an 80-bed in-patient mental health unit in Coventry.

RESULTS

Thirty-three respondents (82.5%) believed that medicine should be practised according to the Oath. Support for the 15 separate statements derived from the Oath varied considerably.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

The principles of the Oath remain an important guide to the ethical basis of medical practice for most medical staff surveyed.