We provide ethics consultations to help address uncertainties or conflicts that arise in your health care with us.
Who can request a consult?
Any patient, client, health care team member, family member or a loved one can request an ethics consult.
When would I request a consult?
Situations may include, but are not limited to:
- Challenges in making decisions for patients or clients who do not have the capacity to make decisions for themselves.
- Concerns around fairness in the treatment of patients or clients.
- When patient/family/loved ones and/or members of the health care team do not agree about the next steps in treatment.
- Uncertainty if it is appropriate to withdraw or continue life-sustaining therapies.
- Feelings of uncertainty about whether the right treatment decision is being made.
What happens once I submit my request for a consult?
Each situation is unique so the process may vary. A team member from Ethics Services will contact you for further details. Opportunities for support may include:
- Meeting with you in person.
- Reviewing the patient’s chart.
- Meeting with other involved parties (family/loved ones, health care team members, etc) to collect information and different perspectives.
- Holding a consultation meeting with the people who are involved (often this will take place over multiple meetings).
- Write up a summary of the discussion and decision made by the patient, family/loved ones, health care team members at the meeting(s).
- Distribute the summary to all meeting participants, where appropriate.
- Conduct a third party evaluation of the consultation.