Free PLAB 2 Ethical / Communication stations
Ethics and communication stations are a core part of PLAB 2, covering consent, confidentiality, capacity, breaking bad news and handling mistakes. They test how you manage difficult conversations and competing duties, not just clinical knowledge.
What PLAB 2 ethical / communication stations cover
Ethics and communication stations are a core part of PLAB 2, covering consent, confidentiality, capacity, breaking bad news and handling mistakes. They test how you manage difficult conversations and competing duties, not just clinical knowledge.
Topics you can practise in these stations include:
- Breaking bad news
- Suspected domestic violence
- Needle-stick injury
- Angry son
- Husband isolated with MRSA
- Worried about meningitis after family contact
- Colleague who smells of alcohol at work
- Post-operative bleeding after vascular bypass surgery
- Breaking bad news: child injured in a road accident
- Delayed antibiotics from a blocked IV cannula
- Speaking to a colleague about a missed IV cannula change
- Disclosing a missed heart attack
- Disclosing a mixed-up X-ray and a wrong pneumonia diagnosis
- Disclosing a missed wrist fracture in a child
How to approach a ethical / communication station
These stations are judged on process, not a single right answer. Listen first, acknowledge the other person's perspective, apply the relevant principle (consent, confidentiality, capacity or candour), and involve a senior or safeguarding where required. Stay calm and non-defensive, especially when you are challenged.
The underlying structure is the same as any PLAB 2 station: greet and confirm identity, explore the patient's ideas, concerns and expectations early, take a focused history, screen for the red flags below, explain your thinking in plain English, and agree a shared plan with clear safety-netting. See the free PLAB 2 preparation guide for the full study plan.
Red flags to screen for in ethical / communication stations
Examiners reward candidates who actively screen for what must not be missed. In ethical / communication stations, the key red flags include:
- A patient who lacks capacity for the decision in question
- Risk to a child or vulnerable adult (safeguarding)
- A confidentiality breach that could harm a third party
- A colleague whose conduct is putting patients at risk
- A situation needing escalation or the duty of candour
Skills these stations test
The 62 ethical / communication stations break down by skill type as:
- Ethical communication 44
- Breaking bad news 8
- Counselling 8
- History and risk assessment 2
All 62 free ethical / communication stations
Every station below is free. Click one to sit it as an eight-minute spoken consultation, then get your mark-scheme breakdown.
Ethical communication 44
- Suspected domestic violence - Mrs Joanne Tasker, 34
- Angry son - hospital-acquired C. diff diarrhoea, Mr Farnsworth's son, 48
- Colleague who smells of alcohol at work - Dr Callum Hargreaves, 24
- Delayed antibiotics from a blocked IV cannula - Mrs Sandra Ibbotson, 50
- Speaking to a colleague about a missed IV cannula change - Dr Erin Jolliffe, FY1
- Disclosing a missed heart attack - Mr George Kettlewell, 42
- Disclosing a mixed-up X-ray and a wrong pneumonia diagnosis - Christine Linfield, 52
- Disclosing a missed wrist fracture in a child - Mr Edward Mostyn, 34 (father)
- Disclosing a lost kidney biopsy - Christian Adams, 27
- Unlabelled pre-op blood sample - explaining a medical error to Mr Brian Oldroyd, 50
- Penicillin prescribed to an allergic child - Mrs Diane Rishworth (mother of Ella, 5)
- Drug error - rash after amoxicillin in a penicillin-allergic child - Mrs Maureen Satterthwaite
- Disclosing a missed foreign body on X-ray - Ms Donna Tattersall (Amy's mother)
- Unexplained arm fracture in a baby - Hazel Wherrett (mother of 4-month-old)
- Elderly fall with bruising of different ages (suspected non-accidental injury) - Ms Angela Yelland (daughter of Mrs Eleanor Yelland, 85)
- Vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy with a suspicious bruise - Brenda Peterson, 28
- Scald to the abdomen - Gillian Capstick, 24
- Son asks you to hide a cancer diagnosis from his mother - Mr Trevor Dalrymple, 52
- Daughter asks you to hide a cancer diagnosis - Yvonne Edgeworth (daughter of patient, 52)
- Mother asking about daughter's contraceptive pill - Mrs Diane Featherstone, 42
- Son demanding his mother's test results - James Gledhill, 52
- Relative refuses mother's discharge after a fall - Mr David Harewood, 54
- Hospital policy and a dying relative - David Inglewood, 38
- Request for a sick note after a road traffic accident - Susan Jessop, 35
- Colleague using cocaine at work - Ben Lonsdale, 25 (medical student)
- Persistently late team member - John Micklethwaite, 24
- Colleague who smells of alcohol at work - Dr Marcus Nuttall, FY1
- Colleague who posted a patient online - Dr Michael Ollerenshaw, FY1
- Difficult colleague - delayed patient discharge - Dr Sam Postlethwaite, FY1
- Angry relative - update and complaint about his mother's care - Mr Daniel Shackleton, 49
- Refusing further treatment - Mr Arthur Yeardley, 75 (lung cancer)
- Declining recommended breast cancer treatment - Mrs Bernadette Asquith, 58
- Confidentiality - a senior colleague asks for a relative's records (Dr Marcus Aldington)
- Low mood and a safeguarding disclosure - Amira Osman, 14
- Request to choose a baby's sex - Mrs Anita Bhandari, 34
- Anogenital warts in a young child - Mrs Tamsin Holloway (mother of Evie, 4)
- Contraception request in a 15-year-old - Maisie Allardyce, 15
- Refusing blood transfusion - Mrs Rupert Aldous, 52 (Jehovah's Witness)
- Medication changed without telling the family - Bridget Aldous (daughter of inpatient)
- Professional boundaries - Ms Dorothea Aldous, 34 (patient asking you on a date)
- Requesting a hospital post-mortem - Mrs Frances Aldington, 58 (recently bereaved widow)
- Support around sexual orientation - Ellis Hartnoll, 19
- Colleague delegating tasks by WhatsApp - Dr Barnaby Aldous, FY1
- Colleague reporting workplace harassment and discrimination - Dr Cassius Aldous, 28
Breaking bad news 8
- Breaking bad news - Mr Hugh Pemberton, 63 (colon cancer)
- Breaking bad news - Mrs Frances Holloway, 53 (DCIS on breast biopsy)
- Breaking bad news - Maria Dewhurst (husband, terminal brain haemorrhage)
- Breaking bad news - post-operative stroke after brain tumour surgery - Steven Embleton (son of Georgina, 72)
- Post-operative bleeding after vascular bypass surgery - Gerald Fotheringham (husband of patient), 68
- Breaking bad news - Joshua Grimshaw, 9 (extradural haemorrhage after road traffic accident)
- Breaking bad news: child injured in a road accident - Ruth Hollis (mother of Joshua, 9)
- Futile care after a second stroke - Rosie Ulph (daughter of Ben Ulph, 63)
Counselling 8
- Needle-stick injury - Dana Allen, 25 (nurse colleague)
- Husband isolated with MRSA - explaining to his wife, Patricia Hepworth, 62
- Worried about meningitis after family contact - Mrs Ella Illingworth, 29
- DNACPR discussion - Juliet Vinall, 82 (end-stage multiple sclerosis)
- Wants to self-discharge on IV antibiotics - Karen Abberley, 27 (infective endocarditis)
- Complaint about delayed lung cancer diagnosis - Matthew Dodsworth, 40 (patient's son)
- Request for a PSA test - Mr Robert Ingram, 57
- Confusion in an elderly father - Ormerod family, daughter at the bedside
History and risk assessment 2
- Sleep problem hiding domestic abuse - Mrs Hannah Brearley, 35
- Disclosure of recent sexual assault - Juliet Aldous, 24
Practise other PLAB 2 specialties
- PLAB 2 Obstetrics & Gynaecology stations (52)
- PLAB 2 Paediatrics stations (42)
- PLAB 2 Neurology stations (34)
- PLAB 2 Psychiatry stations (31)
- PLAB 2 Cardiovascular stations (27)
- PLAB 2 Gastrointestinal stations (27)
- PLAB 2 Dermatology stations (25)
- PLAB 2 Endocrine stations (24)
- PLAB 2 Musculoskeletal stations (20)
- PLAB 2 Respiratory stations (20)
- PLAB 2 ENT stations (19)
- PLAB 2 Surgical stations (15)
- PLAB 2 Urology stations (15)
- PLAB 2 Medicine stations (14)
- PLAB 2 Genitourinary Medicine stations (12)
- PLAB 2 Infectious Diseases stations (11)
- PLAB 2 Haematology stations (9)
- PLAB 2 Ophthalmology stations (7)
- PLAB 2 Palliative / Pain Medicine stations (6)
- PLAB 2 Breast Surgery stations (2)
Frequently asked questions
What PLAB 2 ethical / communication stations come up?
Plabity's 62 free PLAB 2 ethical / communication stations include presentations such as breaking bad news, suspected domestic violence, needle-stick injury, angry son, husband isolated with mrsa, worried about meningitis after family contact, colleague who smells of alcohol at work, post-operative bleeding after vascular bypass surgery, breaking bad news: child injured in a road accident, delayed antibiotics from a blocked iv cannula, speaking to a colleague about a missed iv cannula change, disclosing a missed heart attack, disclosing a mixed-up x-ray and a wrong pneumonia diagnosis, disclosing a missed wrist fracture in a child. Each runs as an eight-minute spoken consultation marked to the PLAB rubric.
Are these PLAB 2 ethical / communication stations free?
Yes. All 62 are free to practise. You sign up with an email address, with no card required.
How are the stations marked?
Each station is marked across the three PLAB domains: data gathering, clinical management and interpersonal skills. You get a breakdown of every criterion with quoted evidence from your own consultation, in seconds.
Practise ethical / communication stations free.
62 spoken ethical / communication cubicles, marked to the PLAB rubric. No card, no plan.
Start practising free