Recently, an unconscious female patient in her late forties was presented to our magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) department for an emergency MRI Brain scan. The patient was involved in a motor vehicle accident (MVA) and experienced blunt trauma to the head. The trauma doctors were worried about a brain bleed which is also known as hemorrhage and can lead to a stroke. Patients brought to our MRI department are required to give informed consent before the procedure is performed. However, due to the patient's condition, informed consent was not obtained. Furthermore, The patient was not accompanied by any family member.

As a manager/leader I had to consult with the MRI radiographers and radiologists that we were on duty and I took the decision that the scan is to be done without obtaining informed consent. This decision was taken following the two ethical principles known as justice and beneficence. Wood et, al., (2021) explain that ethical leadership originates from ethical principles of justice, respect, community, service, and honesty. Beneficence is concerned with actions that are done to bring about good, while justice is concerned about treating patients fairly and providing equal distribution of healthcare services (Ehrlich & Coakes, 2017).

Performing the MRI scan was seen as an act of doing good and taking a positive action for the benefit of the patient. This is because MRI is considered the best option to diagnose rapid onset strokes and allows both the radiologist and trauma doctors to evaluate alternative treatments if needed. The patient was given first preference to receive healthcare services because of the emergency of the situation.

The main concern about this incident was that informed concern was not obtained. According to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), patients should not be diagnosed or treated without their informed consent, and patients must be informed about the costs, risks, and benefits of treatment provided (McQuoid-Mason, 2020). I took the ethical decision of contacting the next of kin of the patient to explain why a scan was done without consent given. Furthermore, I had to inform the head office of the radiology department of why a scan was performed when authorization of the MRI scan was not obtained and when the acknowledgment of debt form was not signed.