The Roles of Hospital Ethics Committee and Clinical Ethics Consultation Teams
2017, 20(4), pp.353-358
DOI : 10.35301/ksme.2017.20.4.353
Publisher : The Korean Society For Medical Ethics
Research Area : General Medicine
Heo， Dae Seog 1, Park Hye Yoon 2, HONG，Jinui 3, LEE，Jinwoo 4, Bhumsuk Keam 5
1서울대학교
2서울대학교병원
3서울대학교병원
4서울대학교병원
5서울대학교병원
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New legislation on hospice-palliative care and end-of-life decision-making in Korea comes into effect in February 2018. Hospital Ethics Committees (HECs) will play a key role in deciding controversial cases. HECs have existed in Korea for decades, but most of their work has been directed toward dispute mediation. With the new legislation coming into effect, HECs will now concentrate on end-of-life issues. However, since there are many other ethical issues that arise in clinical practice, the roles of HECs need to be reconsidered and perhaps reconfigured. Since HECs tend to convene on a monthly basis, they are illequipped to deal with end-of-life decisions, which often must be made within hours or a few days. Clinical ethics consultation teams can bridge the gap between the urgent demands of clinical practice and the slower and more formal activities of HECs. This article argues that it is necessary for HECs to delegate some of their roles or responsibilities to clinical ethics consultation teams.
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