Page - 487 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

CHAPTER E-4 Risking It All: Providing Patient Care and Whistleblowing During a Pandemic Vanessa Gruben* and Louise Bélanger-Hardy** Abstract In this chapter, we discuss the rights and responsibilities of health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, both as care providers (part I) and as whistleblowers (part II). Health care providers have a duty to provide care to patients during a pandemic. However, this duty may be limited by the type of practice, the implied consent to risks, the strength of competing duties such as family obligations, and the need to weigh benefits to patients and potential harm to caregiv- ers. The duty to care of regulated health professionals such as doctors and nurses is framed by the standards of their respective professions. In contrast, personal care workers (PSWs) are not self-regulated. This group forms a large part of the workforce in long-term care homes where most deaths have occurred. We believe it may be time to con- sider whether PSWs should be self-regulating, as this could offer both greater clarity about the standard of care to be provided to patients during pandemics and clear disclosure standards to guide those who wish to denounce the practices they witness. As for health care * Vice-Dean of the English Common Law Program and Associate Professor and a member of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa. ** Full Professor in the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, where she has been Vice-Dean (1996–1999, 2013–2014, and 2020) and a member of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa.