Patients,
families, surrogates, health care providers, and other involved parties may
request an ethics conversation without fear of reprisal.
An ethics
conversation is always appropriate. This conversation is often a prelude to a
full consultation but can simply be an informal discussion. Any member of the
Ethics Consultation Service can be approached for this “conversation.”
For a list of ECS Members click here.
In the
conversation setting, the identity of the patient and other involved parties
will be kept confidential as far as possible.
If a
conflict of interest is identified by any party to the conversation, he/she
will withdraw at that time and if appropriate suggest another member (or
members) of the service to proceed with the conversation.
The
conversation is informal and has no specific protocol guidelines.
Moral
advice as to particular outcome will be avoided. The conversation is seen as
more heavily focused on education about relevant ethical issues than
on mediation.
Since
most participants are not identified, documentation in the medical record
would not be possible. However, all conversations are reported to the
subcommittee at the next scheduled meeting and subject to critique. Strict
confidentiality will continue to be maintained. A summary of this educational
discussion will be recorded in the subcommittee minutes.
