Making decisions about healthcare can sometimes be difficult or confusing. Conflict over the choices of what should be done can cause ethical dilemmas related to values or personal or religious beliefs.

The Clinical Ethics Forum provides advice to healthcare professionals and other involved parties about the complex ethical issues that can arise in the course of patient care.

The forum is made up of representatives from various clinical departments from the hospital as well as our Governors and is multidisciplinary.

It aims to facilitate discussion among healthcare professionals or other involved parties faced with concerns or conflict over patient care decisions.  These decisions include, but are not limited to:

• Beginning of life decisions
• End of life decisions
• The decision to offer treatment or not

At a Clinical Ethics Forum meeting the members hear from the parties involved in the patient’s care in order to understand all the issues and concerns.

They also provide advice regarding the treatment or decision opinions in any given case, so as to help the health care team to come to agreement over the ethically permissible options.