Intended for healthcare professionals

Chaperoning in dermatology

Do you always offer a chaperone before performing an intimate examination, defined by the General Medical Council (GMC) as an examination of the breasts, genitalia or rectum? What do you do if you are carrying out a general examination and suddenly wonder if the diagnosis is scabies and want to examine the patient’s breasts? Do you offer a chaperone irrespective of the gender of yourself and the patient? If you do have a chaperone present, do you record the chaperone’s identity in the notes? If you do not, you are not following the GMC guidelines from December 2001.
Dermatology in practice 2006; 14(1): 18–19
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