Bioethics Committee - Paper Example

Bioethics is a term used to refer to a field of study dealing with the philosophical and ethical implications of specific medical and biological treatments, procedures and the relevant technologies. These may involve the taking care of people who are terminally ill, organ transplants, artificial insemination and genetic engineering. Bioethics Committee(s), in medical facilities, serve to ensure that the Universal Declaration on Human Genome and Human Rights is upheld and followed to the letter. It also provides a firm basis and framework of principles that guide all the activities in the biomedical field and environment thus ensuring that each and every individual and, or activity conforms to the laws governing international human rights.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

I engaged the Chairperson of the Bioethics Committee, Plainview Hospital seeking to find out the following regarding the aforementioned committee: functions, decision-making process, recommendations and the Chairpersons personal view regarding the impact the committee had had on the hospital. Besides that, I also managed to attend one of the committees meetings and noted the following:

Plainview Hospital had a Bioethics Committee comprised of 29 members. Its vision was outlined as To provide a forum for a comprehensive reflection in bioethics. The broad tasks outlined for the committee were as follows; to mirror medical, legal and ethical concerns that may emerge in the field of research of life sciences and their relevant applications, to encourage, monitor and improve the exchange of information. Another role is to sensitize and raise awareness in the private and public arena, individual, the marginalized and all relevant stakeholders in bioethics.

Another task set out for the committee in a broader perspective is to continuously contribute to, uphold and affirm the dissemination of the fundamental principles as laid out in the various UNESCO Declarations. Lastly, to ensure smooth cooperation and interaction with both international governmental and non-governmental organizations and similar bodies to deal with the issues and concerns raised in the bioethics field.

The Plainview Hospital Bioethics Committee is a standing committee of the Plainview Hospital medical staff. It is composed of a multidisciplinary membership drawn from all the elements of the healthcare units within the organization. This includes representatives from the various faculties and voluntary staffs, nurses, administrators, chaplaincy, ancillary care teams and those from the social services. Plainview Bioethics Committee also has a representative from the Center for Healthcare Ethics and the general public the community. Plainview Health Committee has various statutes that strictly define its composition and mandate. It serves the purpose of advising on the matters relating to the hospitals Administrative and Operational Policies and Procedures Manual consistent with the Rules and Regulations of the hospital together with required international standards.

Another role that is undertaken by the committee is that one of fostering awareness of the dynamic issues, complaints, and concerns arising within the organization through helping in the enactment and the subsequent implementation of educational programs and activities in and outside the organization. The committee is also mandated with the task of identifying and considering all the ethical issues surrounding the hospital.

Exploring the different approaches to medically based decisions at Plainview is also within its stretch. The committee also participates in the development, implementation, evaluation and reviewing of Plainview policy if and when matters ethics are mentioned and involved.

The committee is also mandated to represent the hospital, engage in consultations and assist in assessments as and when requested by the Plainview Hospital Management Board.

Lastly, the committee is tasked with ensuring confidentiality at all levels of engagements by making sure that all the deliberations and discussions are kept personal, confidential, and all data, records, and information are well kept, stored and protected. The committee, in individual instances, has served as the primary resource for the Clinical Ethics Committee a subcommittee of the Clinical Committee.

The committee has in its ranks a Director who is tasked with convening a meeting once every two months and whenever necessary as the need may arise. Through panel sessions and working groups, the Committee can achieve all their mandates as earlier outlined. In addition to that, they can issue advice and various levels of recommendations on the specific problems and concerns adopted by consensus and disseminated to the different departments within the organization.

The committee had made numerous recommendations that, according to them, were necessary and in line with the required international ethical standards. They had the following as their recommendations: that all the relevant stakeholders in the medical and related fields involve the general public regarding bioethics activity and requirements. This was to ensure a decrease in the criticisms of the healthcare personnel and also significantly reduce the sharp divide that had been witnessed on several ethical issues.

The committee also requested the Management Board to liaise with the different stakeholders in the community to oversee an efficient analysis of the citys current and future capacity for anticipating, recognizing and efficiently responding to the dynamic and divergent social and ethical issues that emerge from the advancing biomedical science and healthcare technology.

The Committee was also concerned with the fact that not all ethical concerns and quandaries that have faced the medical field have all emanated from a radical change or the introduction and inception of a new method or technology.

Limiting the deliberations to a single, unique technology or radical change thus, would not prove fruitful for the committees and the medical (and related) fields mandate(s). The rapid development and emergence of innovations e.g., cloning of human beings and genetics development were used to illustrate the need to meet, evaluate and review issues surrounding ethical concerns always. They recommended this to ensure that the committee had enough time and capacity to make sure that nothing outpaced their ability to effectively cope or deal with the various dimensions of such practices.

In my attendance of one of their meetings, the committee deliberated the aggregate effect that technical changes and, or developments had on ethical issues. They argued that a technical change or development, when considered individually, would not raise any substantial ethical concerns. However, an accumulation of the same would present the medical field with a new circumstance that would alter the currently existing beliefs and practices. This would, in turn, trigger a sense that the technical changes and developments would require extensive research and examination because of the unanswered and unexamined ethical concerns, questions, and issues they elicit.

The committee also had something to discuss with regards to organizational innovation and whether it raised new ethical concerns. The argument was that the current society was morphing significantly evidenced by the current changes seen in the medical field concerning the delivery of healthcare and medical services using both existing and new technologies. This was seen as the reason for the rise in the levels of new ethical quandaries and concerns mostly related to equity.

The recommendation was that all the stakeholders of the medical and related fields should come together and harmonize the fluctuating levels of equity. It was noted that the reforms in health care were likely to sanction the explicit ordering and requesting of priorities with regards to health resources such as medical technologies and equipment.

New judgments and deliberations were to be laid down so as to ration the expensive medical technologies, operations, equipment. This was to ensure that healthcare was not just affordable to the select few who will afford it but to every human being across the strata wealthy or poor.

References

Chenier, N. (1996). Bioethics, medical technologies and the health of Canadians (1st ed.). [Ottawa]: Library of Parliament, Research Branch.

Gopichandran, V. & Chetlapalli, S. (2015). Trust in Healthcare: Need for Perspectives from Developing Healthcare Settings. Asian Bioethics Review, 7(1), 98-108. doi:10.1353/asb.2015.0005

Veatch, R. (1989). Contemporary Bioethics and the Demise of Modern Medicine. Bioethics News, 8(2), 6-21. doi:10.1007/bf03351159