Should Doctors Have to Disclose Their Religious Beliefs (or Lack Thereof)?

I think my study shows that both religious beliefs and atheist beliefs influence the decisions that doctors make in end-of-life care, some of which may have an impact on length of life. It is probable that not all doctors are aware that their own decisions are influenced by this. If I were a patient facing a period of end-of-life care, I would want to know if my doctor had strong convictions either way, quite independently of whether the doctor thought he or she could put aside their convictions and put my interests first. It is not just the patient’s values that are relevant, but also the doctor’s—doctors are, after all, only human.

In terms of how this would work, in the United Kingdom, I think there would need to be some acknowledgment in the General Medical Council’s guidelines to doctors that it is OK for a doctor to be asked about this, and that doctors can answer such questions. Advanced care planning discussions between doctors and patients, which are increasingly encouraged by the government and the National Health Service these days, would be the time and place for this kind of disclosure to happen.

I would emphasize that this is not just a disclosure of whether a person has strong religious views; it also works the other way around: Committed atheism is also a belief system that a patient might want to know about, particularly if the patient is religious.

Clive Seale is a professor of medical sociology at the Institute of Health Sciences Education at Queen Mary, University of London.