The boundaries.
NEVER DELEGATE
Diagnosis Treatment decisions Prescribing Assessment of capacity Breaking bad news Safeguarding decisions Anything requiring examination
WHY
These require clinical judgement, direct assessment, and a professional who can be accountable.
WHAT ABOUT DECISION SUPPORT
Legitimate, when it informs your reasoning rather than replacing it.
The distinction is whether you reasoned independently.
THE DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENT
Your notes should reflect your clinical reasoning, not a generated summary of it.
If a decision is questioned, you must be able to explain why you made it.
THE PROFESSIONAL POSITION
Your regulator holds you accountable. A system cannot share that.
WHAT TO CHECK
Your professional body's guidance on AI use. Most have published something and it is developing.
WHAT PATIENTS ARE ENTITLED TO EXPECT
That decisions about their care were made by a qualified professional who assessed them.
THE TEST
Could you defend this decision on your own reasoning, without reference to what a system suggested?
