UCAT Situational Judgement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A colleague confides they have been self-medicating with prescription drugs. What should you do first?
- Report them to the GMC immediately
- Encourage them to seek appropriate help and support, such as occupational health (Correct answer)
- Say nothing and hope the situation resolves
- Tell other colleagues in the team
Correct answer: Encourage them to seek appropriate help and support, such as occupational health
The first step is to encourage the colleague to seek appropriate professional help, which addresses both their health needs and potential patient safety concerns.
Question 2: A patient discloses domestic abuse to you during a consultation. What is the most appropriate action?
- Contact the police immediately without the patient's knowledge
- Listen, document the disclosure sensitively, provide information about support services, and act according to the patient's wishes (Correct answer)
- Ignore it as it is outside the scope of the clinical consultation
- Confront the alleged abuser directly
Correct answer: Listen, document the disclosure sensitively, provide information about support services, and act according to the patient's wishes
Sensitive documentation, provision of support information, and following the patient's wishes (unless there is imminent risk) is the most appropriate response.
Question 3: You realise you made an error in prescribing that caused a patient mild harm. The patient has not noticed. What should you do?
- Say nothing since the harm was mild
- Disclose the error to the patient, apologise, and complete an incident report (Correct answer)
- Ask a senior to deal with it without informing the patient
- Document it only in your personal notes
Correct answer: Disclose the error to the patient, apologise, and complete an incident report
The duty of candour requires disclosure of errors that cause harm, regardless of severity, and an incident report supports learning.
Question 4: A medical student in your team regularly arrives late to ward rounds. What is the most appropriate initial step?
- Report them to the medical school without speaking to them first
- Speak to the student privately to understand the reason for lateness and offer support (Correct answer)
- Publicly reprimand them during the ward round
- Ignore the behaviour as it is not your responsibility
Correct answer: Speak to the student privately to understand the reason for lateness and offer support
A private, supportive conversation is the appropriate first step, allowing for understanding of any underlying issues before escalating.
Question 5: A patient's relative demands access to the patient's medical notes. The patient is conscious and competent. What should you do?
- Share the notes immediately to avoid conflict
- Decline to share without the patient's explicit consent (Correct answer)
- Share a summary only
- Refer the relative to hospital management
Correct answer: Decline to share without the patient's explicit consent
Medical records are confidential and can only be shared with third parties with the patient's explicit consent when the patient has capacity.
Question 6: You are caring for a terminally ill patient who asks you directly whether they are dying. What is the most appropriate response?
- Say 'I can't discuss that' and leave the room
- Explore what the patient already knows and gently, honestly discuss their prognosis with sensitivity (Correct answer)
- Reassure them falsely that everything will be fine
- Ask a nurse to respond instead
Correct answer: Explore what the patient already knows and gently, honestly discuss their prognosis with sensitivity
Honest, sensitive communication that begins by exploring the patient's understanding is considered best practice in end-of-life care.
UCAT Situational Judgement 2
A colleague confides they have been self-medicating with prescription drugs.
What should you do first?