What and who are clinical ethics committees for?

McLean, Sheila A.M.

doi:10.1136/jme.2007.021394

Cited by 51 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…This concern has been expressed most forcefully in the US, with critics of CES fearing that a creeping quasi-legal status may become attached to the deliberations of committees and consultants (Pope, 2009), reflecting the possibility that, as McLean (2008) has observed, it is "all-too-easy move from advice to authority and from commentary to decision-making" (2008,101). Even if the consultant (or committee) issues nonbinding advice, this may still impact on subsequent actions (McLean, 2007). In cases where a consultation involves a dispute between the patient (and family) and the clinical team, there is a need to ensure some degree of procedural fairness; all parties in a dispute have the right to a fair hearing.…”

Section: Evaluation Of Ces Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There has also been contention in the literature as to whether patients should be involved in ethics case consultations and if so, to what degree. Some have claimed that where consultations have a direct bearing on care, the lodestars of clinical ethics support are potentially undermined, namely, patient autonomy and self-determination (Wolf, 1992), raising important questions about due process (McLean, 2007(McLean, , 2009). This concern has been expressed most forcefully in the US, with critics of CES fearing that a creeping quasi-legal status may become attached to the deliberations of committees and consultants (Pope, 2009), reflecting the possibility that, as McLean (2008) has observed, it is "all-too-easy move from advice to authority and from commentary to decision-making" (2008,101).…”

Section: Evaluation Of Ces Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In cases where a consultation involves a dispute between the patient (and family) and the clinical team, there is a need to ensure some degree of procedural fairness; all parties in a dispute have the right to a fair hearing. Attention to formal justice and due process is considered particularly important (McLean, 2007).…”

Section: Evaluation Of Ces Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Clinical Ethics Support in Contemporary Health Care

Doran¹,

Kerridge²,

Jordens³

et al. 2016

Oxford Handbooks Online

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This chapter discusses clinical ethics support services (CES Services), the development of which has arisen to help respond to ethical issues arising in health care settings. CES services are comprised of an individual or group, usually in an organization, who can provide a suite of services to support all stakeholders in identifying and managing ethical issues they face. While there is a degree of consensus about the potential value of such services, they are also the focus of ongoing theoretical, methodological and political debates. The aim of this chapter is to provide health care managers with an account of how and why CES services are becoming a part of the contemporary organizational landscape of health care, and describe the concerns that bioethicists and others have raised regarding their role, function and dissemination.

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Section: Evaluation Of Ces Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Evaluation Of Ces Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Clinical Ethics Support in Contemporary Health Care

Doran¹,

Kerridge²,

Jordens³

et al. 2016

Oxford Handbooks Online

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…More research is required on the benefits and uses of CECs (RCP, 2005;McLean, 2007) and, specifically, on their use in infertility clinics. However, despite this need for continuing evaluation, the case for the utility of CECs is a strong one and more infertility units could benefit from their use.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The legal status of their decisions and/or deliberations is sometimes ambiguous and needs to be clarified (RCP, 2005;McLean, 2007). However, the HFEA is clear that the responsibility for any decision is that of the 'PR' and therefore CECs only give guidance and advice, they do not have any legal standing as a decision-making body (HFEA, 2000).…”

Section: Legal Status Of Committees' Deliberationsmentioning

confidence: 98%

The use of clinical ethics committees in infertility clinics

Frith

2009

Human Fertility

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Clinical ethics committees (CECs) are increasingly used in UK health care (Slowther et al., 2004a). However, there has been little debate about their use in infertility units. Current HFEA guidance on CECs encourages their use in aiding ethical decision making but this is not required by the code of practice or obligated by law. It will be argued that the HFEA should strengthen its guidance on CECs by recommending that all infertility clinics should have a designated CEC (where possible) as a matter of good practice and such a recommendation should be formalised in the HFEA's Code of practice. The article will conclude with recommendations for a particular model of CECs in infertility units.

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The role of hospital ethics committees in emergency medicine practice

et al. 2020

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Emergency physicians face real‐time ethical dilemmas that may occur at any hour of the day or night. Hospital ethics committees and ethics consultation services are not always able to provide immediate responses to emergency physicians’ consultation requests. When faced with an emergent dilemma, emergency physicians sometimes rely on risk management or hospital counsel to answer legal questions, but may be better served by real‐time ethics consultation. When other resources are not immediately available, emergency physicians should feel confident in making timely decisions, guided by basic principles of medical ethics. We make the following recommendations: (1) availability of a member of the hospital ethics committee to provide in‐person or telephonic consultation concurrent with patient care; (2) appointment to the hospital ethics committee of an emergency physician who is familiar with bioethical principles and is available for consultation when other ethics consultants are not; and (3) development of educational tools by professional societies or similar organizations to assist emergency physicians in making reasoned and defensible clinical ethics decisions.

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What and who are clinical ethics committees for?

Abstract: As support for clinical ethics committees in the UK grows, care must be taken to define their function, membership and method of working and the status of their decisions.

Cited by 51 publications

References 13 publications

Clinical Ethics Support in Contemporary Health Care

Clinical Ethics Support in Contemporary Health Care

The use of clinical ethics committees in infertility clinics

The role of hospital ethics committees in emergency medicine practice

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