Ethics committees are the most important practical instrument of clinical ethics in Belgium and fulfil three tasks: the ethical review of experimental protocols, advising on the ethical aspects of healthcare practice, and ethics consultation. In this article the authors examine the current situation of ethics committees in Belgium from the perspective of clinical ethics. Firstly, the most impor...

The requirement for ethics review of studies submitted to Implementation Science has been unclear. Therefore, in this editorial, we set out our requirements for ethics committee review of experimental and non-experimental studies. For any study that meets the criteria of human subject research (which includes research on healthcare providers), irrespective of study design, we will require proof...

INTRODUCTION Newborn bloodspot screening (NBS) involves testing a small sample of blood taken from the heel of the newborn for a number of serious and life-limiting conditions. In Canada, newborn screening programmes fall under provincial and territorial jurisdiction with no federal coordination. To date, we know very little about the underlying beliefs around different consent practices or how...

BACKGROUND The aim of the study is to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices among healthcare professionals in Barbados in relation to healthcare ethics and law in an attempt to assist in guiding their professional conduct and aid in curriculum development. METHODS A self-administered structured questionnaire about knowledge of healthcare ethics, law and the role of an Ethics Committee...

INTRODUCTION Healthcare professionals are particularly at risk of developing numerous physical and psychological health problems. The experiences of emotional burden associated with providing healthcare, notably care-related regret, have been associated with these health problems, but only using cross-sectional data so far. Evidence of a causal impact of regret has not been assessed. The Impact...

Practice is usually based on tradition, rituals and outdated information; there is often an additional gap between theoretical knowledge and its application in practice. This theory-practice gap has long existed (Allmark, 1995; Hewison et al, 1996). It often arises when theory is ignored because it is seen as idealistic and impractical, even if it is practical and beneficial. Most research rela...

An ethically problematic clinical case is used to illustrate the potential importance of understanding clinical ethics in an interdisciplinary context. Whilst much has been written on ethics education for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teams, we argue that it is important that both healthcare professions and healthcare teams are able to look outside their own disciplinary ethos and som...

BACKGROUND UK-based research conducted within a healthcare setting generally requires approval from the National Research Ethics Service. Research ethics committees are required to assess a vast range of proposals, differing in both their topic and methodology. We argue the methodological benchmarks with which research ethics committees are generally familiar and which form the basis of assessm...

Primary Care Ethics is one of those books that healthcare professionals will share with their colleagues because it brings together a range of experiences that are often discussed informally with their peers, but rarely addressed in clinical training. It is not intended as a textbook of medical ethics, but rather a series of essays that are insightful, thought provoking, and informative in rais...

How can a healthcare organization improve the public's confidence in the conduct of its business operations? What can it do to ensure that it can thrive despite being the subject of public and governmental scrutiny and doubt? Healthcare providers must establish standards of conduct that are above reproach and ensure that those standards are clearly articulated and strictly adhered to. This arti...