Healthcare professionals have a new source of guidance for difficult legal and ethical decisions with the launch of a new edition of Health Care and the Law.

Now in its fifth version, the book navigates the complex legal framework in which health workers operate.

“From ambulance officers through to doctors, nurses and scientists, our health care professionals are bonded together within an extensive administrative and legal environment,” said co-author Bill Madden who is a medical law specialist with Slater & Gordon.

“Health Care & the Law assists health care professional as they juggle competing interests and their workloads by providing procedural checklists, guidelines and case law examples.”

The latest version of the book has been updated to cover new and emerging issues in healthcare.

New themes include end-of-life decision making and the Commonwealth, state and territory privacy regimes.

The book also considers insights into court deliberations on civil liability legislation in relation to negligence, as well as the transition to the new industrial relations regime and the national workplace relations tribunal.

The first edition of Health Care and the Law was originally written by Meg Wallace in 1991. The fourth and fifth editions were co-authored by Bill Madden and Janine McIlwraith.