BMA policies on science, medical ethics and other health issues
Updated 15 July 2004
- Introduction
- Science
- Ethics
- Health Policy & Economic Research Unit
- Parliamentary Unit
- Scotland
- Wales
- Northern Ireland
The BMA, as well as being a professional association and trade union for doctors, is a scientific and educational body. We produce a wide variety of books and reports on scientific, ethical, economic and medico-political issues, reflecting the concerns and interests of BMA members.
The main divisions of the BMA that publish reports and guidance are the Board of Science & Education, the Medical Ethics Department, the Health Policy and Economic Research Unit (HPERU) and the BMA’s Parliamentary Unit. With the exception of some of the Ethics and HPERU discussion papers, these publications represent BMA policy, which has been developed through the various committees of the BMA - including the annual meeting, the professional boards and representative committees.
Science
The BMA’s Board of Science & Education is the BMA's main interface between the profession, the government and the public, on matters of science, health education and public health. Through research and publishing, the BMA leads the debate on many key scientific and public health issues.
Recent reports published by our Board of Science & Education include:
The impact of flying on passenger health (2004)*
Genetically modified foods & health: 2nd statement (2004)*
Diabetes mellitus (2004)*
Smoking & reproductive life (2004)*
Adolescent health (2003)*
Childhood immunisation: a guide for healthcare professionals (2003)*
Housing & health (2003)
Asylum seekers: meeting their healthcare needs (2002)*
Drugs in sport (2002)
Sexually transmitted infections (2002)*
Towards smoke-free public places (2002)
Mobile phones & health: an interim report (2001)*
Acupuncture: efficacy, safety and practice (2000)
Eating disorders, body image & the media (2000)
* = full text of the report available in pdf-format
The Board of Science & Education has also produced internet information resources on:
Health & ageing (2003)
Sunbeds (2003)
Driving under the influence of drugs (2002)
For further details of publications produced by the BMA’s Board of Science & Education click here.
Ethics
The Medical Ethics Committee of the BMA produces books, reports, guidance and discussion documents on topical and often controversial issues. These include genetic technology, end of life issues and organ donation. The Committee includes external members who bring expertise in other fields, for example, law, moral philosophy and from other health professions.
In 2004, the BMA published Medical Ethics Today, a handbook of ethics and law covering a wide range of topics including the doctor-patient relationship, consent, confidentiality, health records, assisted reproduction, genetics, euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, prescribing and emergency care. You can click here for more information about the content of the book.
Other BMA Ethics books and reports include:
Children - consent, rights & choices (2001)
The medical profession & human rights (2001)
Withholding and withdrawing life-prolonging medical treatment (2nd edition, 2001)
Human genetics: choice and responsibility (1998)
The older person - consent & care (1995)
Assessment of mental capacity (2nd Edition, 2004)
Additional guidance produced by the BMA's Ethics Division is on our website, including:
Interface between NHS & private treatment (2004)
Parental Responsibility (2004)
The law & ethics of male circumcision (2003)
Access to health records (2000, revised 2002)
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (2002)*
Medical information & insurance (2002)
Access to health care for asylum seekers (2001)
End of life decisions (2000)
The impact of the human rights act (2000)
Confidentiality & disclosure of health information (1999)
* = full text of the report available in pdf-format
BMA Ethics discussion papers include:
Gene patenting (2001)
Organ donation in the 21st century (2000)
Human "cloning" (1999)
Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide (1998)
For information on the full range of guidance and other publications produced by our BMA’s Medical Ethics Department, click here.
Health Policy and Economic Research
The BMA’s Health Policy and Economic Research Unit (HPERU) researches health policy issues and provides economic and statistical advice in connection with a wide range of BMA activities. It produces briefing and discussion papers, and research carried out by the Unit is used in documents published by other BMA departments and committees.
For more information on the medico-economic research carried out by the BMA’s Health Policy and Economic Research Unit (HPERU), including reports such as the Unit’s recent Healthcare Funding Review, click here.
Parliamentary Unit
The BMA’s Parliamentary Unit in London is our main point of contact with Members of both Houses of Parliament. The BMA has a high profile in the UK Parliament and in the devolved parliaments and assemblies. At Westminster, MPs and peers regularly refer to BMA policy during debates and BMA representatives are often asked to give evidence to Parliamentary committees.
The Parliamentary Unit produces briefing papers on a wide variety of medico-political issues, reflecting the collective opinion of our members. Some of the subjects covered include:
Alcohol - young people (2004)
Child poverty (2004)
Consultants - the new hospital consultants' contract in England (2004)
Cycling and cycle helmets (2004)
Drugs & driving (2004)
General practitioners - the new GP contract (2004) and out-of-hours cover (2004)
Genetically modified foods & health (2004)
Human tissue & organs - presumed consent for organ donation (2004)
Identity cards (2004)
MMR vaccine (2004)
Water fluoridation (2004)
Biological & chemical terrorism (2003)
Funding - no-fault compensation for medical injuries (2003)
GMC - revalidation (2003)
Tobacco - passive smoking (2003)
Patient confidentiality - guidelines (2002)
For access to the BMA Parliamentary Unit's briefing papers click here.
These pages also provide access to the Parliamentary Unit's briefings on health-related Bills going through Parliament, such as the Draft Mental Health Bill, the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill and the Human Tissues Bill.
In Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland there are also active public affairs teams.
Scotland
As health is a devolved matter, BMA Scotland’s Public Affairs Department, based in Edinburgh, liaises with politicians to promote the views and work of the BMA. The department prepares briefing papers for parliamentary debates and provides politicians from all parties with information on the views of the medical profession.
The Department also prepares submissions to Scottish Parliamentary committees and advises individual doctors on giving evidence to the various committees. For access to BMA Scotland’s parliamentary web pages (which include a weekly parliamentary review, details on MSPs and Scottish Ministers, and briefing papers and submissions) click here.
Wales
The BMA Wales Public Affairs Office, based in Cardiff, liaises with politicians in the National Assembly, the UK Parliament and the European Parliament to promote the views and work of the BMA.
The Office prepares general briefing papers and gives individual briefings to Assembly Members of all four parties. A regular email newsletter, Assembly News, containing all the information on medical issues raised in the Assembly, is available to BMA members.
For further information about the BMA Wales Public Affairs Office click here
Northern Ireland
The BMA’s Northern Ireland Parliamentary Affairs Office, based in Belfast, promotes BMA members' interests in the Northern Ireland Assembly (currently suspended). Its role also includes keeping politicians of all parties informed about BMA policy developments; briefing politicians on key health issues and coordinating BMA activities with Assembly Committees.
For further information about the BMA’s Northern Ireland Parliamentary Affairs Office, click here
Please note that the above departments can only respond directly to enquiries from BMA members. All enquiries from members of the public and other organisations should be addressed to our Public Affairs Division.