Module overview
The Health Care Law Bioethics module examines the relationships between health care, ethics, and law. It explores a range of theoretical approaches from philosophical bioethics, and relates them to foundational and practical questions in health care law.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- examine and assess specific aspects of health care law;
- critically appraise the use of law to promote health and secure healthcare, using appropriately selected specific examples to justify your assessment;
- examine the relationship between law and ethics in the context of health care;
- clarify, inform, and defend your views on selected issues of health care law and bioethics.
- consider the bioethical legitimacy of legal and other mechanisms for regulating health care;
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- Health Care Law as a discrete area of study;
- key bioethical debates regarding health care provision, and their relationship with law and legal understanding.
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- communicate your views using clear, reasoned argument demonstrating an appreciation of academic integrity.
Syllabus
The module analyses health care through legal study and philosophical bioethics. Its primary focus is on health care provided through the NHS (the UK's National Health Service) and it explores topical issues and questions of ongoing Importance and controversy in relation to the provision of health care. This includes key questions about the rights, freedoms, and obligations that are ethically due in health care, and the extent to which these might be legally underpinned and regulated. Overall, the module develops an understanding of the field of health care law as a discrete area of legal study, and invites critical engagement through bioethical analysis.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods include:
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Group work
Learning activities include:
- Individual study and research
- Accessing online resources and health care law literature
- Preparing and participating in tutorial activities
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Tutorial | 8 |
| Lecture | 20 |
| Preparation for scheduled sessions | 80 |
| Wider reading or practice | 12 |
| Completion of assessment task | 30 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Graham Laurie, Shawn Harmon and Gerard Porter, Mason & Mc-Call-Smiths (2016). Law and Medical Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Choose one of the three texts listed.
Jackson, E. (2016). Medical Law Text and Materials. Oxford University Press: Oxford University Press.
Brazier, M & Cave, E. (2016). Medicine, Patients and the Law (Contemporary Issues in Bioethics). Penguin.
Assessment
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
EssaySummative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Coursework | 100% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Coursework | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Coursework | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External