ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Is there a moral duty for doctors to trust patients?

W A Rogers

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr W A Rogers, Department of General Practice, University of Edinburgh, 20 West Richmond St, Edinburgh EH8 9DX, UK;
wendy.rogers@ed.ac.uk

Revised version received 18 December 2001

Accepted 24 December 2001

ABSTRACT

In this paper I argue that it is morally important for doctors to trust patients. Doctors' trust of patients lays the foundation for medical relationships which support the exercise of patient autonomy, and which lead to an enriched understanding of patients' interests. Despite the moral and practical desirability of trust, distrust may occur for reasons relating to the nature of medicine, and the social and cultural context within which medical care is provided. Whilst it may not be possible to trust at will, the conscious adoption of a trusting stance is both possible and warranted as the burdens of misplaced trust fall more heavily upon patients than doctors.

Keywords: Trust; distrust; doctor-patient relationship

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The obligation of doctors to be trustworthy is a recurrent theme in medical ethics, with breaches of this trust being widely discussed and heavily censured.^1–3 Relatively little attention has been paid to analysing other aspects of trust in the doctor-patient relationship, such as the trust, or lack of trust, that doctors may have in their patients.^{4, 5} The presence or absence of such trust has, however, both moral and practical implications. In this paper I discuss the importance of trust, the ways in which doctors may or may not trust patients, and potential barriers to trust. Despite the difficulties, I argue that there is a moral duty for doctors to trust patients.

TRUST OR RELIANCE?

Some degree of reliance is a necessary part of interactions between doctors and patients. Consultations typically start with the patient's account of what is wrong; the doctor relies upon this testimony to guide her subsequent history-taking and examination. The . . . [Full text of this article]

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