Case Study 1 Henry has been practising as a physiotherapist for 8 years. He works in an inner-city medical centre along with orthopaedic surgeons, a podiatrist, a rheumatologist, a radiologist, and a...

Case Study 1
Henry has been practising as a physiotherapist for 8 years. He works in an inner-city medical centre along with orthopaedic surgeons, a podiatrist, a rheumatologist, a radiologist, and a massage therapist. Henry has been treating Jim, a 73 year old man, following bilateral knee replacements. After 3 months of therapy, Jim has shown little improvement in mobility; his wife tells you that Jim is not following his exercise program at home. Henry has a waiting list of patients who need his assistance; for this reason, he decides to discontinue Jim’s treatment. Instead, he suggests that Jim see the massage therapist.
Later that week, the practice manager, Sally, calls a meeting with Henry to discuss his decision to discontinue Jim’s treatment as she believes that such measures could undermine the reputation of the practice. She warns Henry that if he discontinues treating patients, they will go elsewhere. Later, Henry raises his concerns with the practice manager over the well-being of one of the surgeons. He tells Sally that the surgeon frequently arrives to work smelling of alcohol, including on those days on which he performs surgery. Sally offers to speak with the surgeon, assuring Henry that he does not need to intervene in this matter. Weeks go by and the surgeon continues to arrive at work in the same condition.


1) Identify the ethical issues at stake in your chosen case study
2) Establish a clear ethical perspective on the issues
3) Recognise an alternative perspective to your own
4) Discuss the ethical issues from the perspectives of:
The requirement to respect human dignity and human rights;
your future profession’s codes of ethics/ professional conduct & professional standards;
one ethical theory you have studied in this unit; &
the principles of health care ethics
5) Make recommendations for professional practice