The Clinical Ethics Advisory Group (CEAG) is an expert advisory committee of the Trust. Its purpose is to promote consistently high standards of ethical clinical practice throughout the Trust.
The CEAG does not provide advice on research ethics, which is available from the Research Development and Innovation department, nor does it provide legal opinion, although its advice is necessarily given in a legal context.
Typically, clinical ethics advisory groups provide advice to clinical teams trying to resolve difficult ethical challenges arising from patient care and wider provision of clinical services. Such ethical issues can be generated by advances in medical techniques and therapeutic possibilities, but they can also be common to particular areas of clinical practice such as decisions about clinically assisted nutrition and hydration or care at the end of life when choices may need to be made about withdrawal of treatment or the appropriate place and level of care.
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS FT CEAG has been consulted on a wide range of issues including:
- Fulfilling the duty of candour
- Implications for consent of a patient's erratic compliance with treatment
- Withholding and withdrawing clinically assisted nutrition and hydration
- Best interests decision-making at the end of life
- Confidentiality and obligations to third parties under possible exposure to harm
- Management of patients with suspected Ebola
- Safe and equitable treatment of a violent patient
- Protecting the privacy of trans patients' gender history
- Complex judgements about resource allocation and medicines, for example, during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Access to novel, experimental treatments for patients who have exhausted evidence-based options.
The LUHFT CEAG is responsible for:
- Raising awareness of ethical issues arising from clinical practice
- Encouraging individuals and teams to analyse and resolve ethical issues systematically in light of relevant guidance and experience
- Accumulating, disseminating and retaining a body of clinical ethical knowledge and expertise in the Trust.
The CEAG's activities include:
- Meeting regularly to discuss and provide advice on ethical issues referred to the CEAG by clinicians and multi-disciplinary teams
- Identifying needs for clinical ethics education and assisting in the education and training of Trust staff
- Contributing to the development of policies and standards by providing advice and guidance on ethical issues.
More information
The CEAG is supported by a Clinical Ethicist and aims to maintain around fifteen members who are mostly but not exclusively employees of the Trust. The Chair and Vice-chair are elected from the membership of the committee.
As an expert advisory committee, the CEAG does not attempt to represent all clinical interests in the Trust. However, the CEAG’s appointment process does seek to ensure that the membership is sufficiently diverse to reflect the range of clinical and support services provided by the Trust.
Health care professionals in the Trust may seek the opinion of the Clinical Ethics Advisory Group (CEAG) on ethical issues arising from clinical practice, clinical service provision, clinical audit, or in relation to policy development. Referrers must be able to demonstrate that normal decision-making processes have been followed prior to consulting the CEAG.
Referrals are made either by the relevant lead clinician or by a member of the multi-disciplinary team with the express approval of the lead clinician. Initial enquiries should be addressed to the committee by contacting the Trust Clinical Ethicist, John Bridson, by email at john.
Before making a referral, potential referrers may find it helpful to read the CEAG Terms of Reference and the CEAG Consultation Procedure. Any questions about the correct procedure for making a referral can be discussed with the Clinical Ethicist. At this point, the appropriateness of the referral is discussed and an agreement is reached about how the CEAG will consider the referral and how soon the CEAG will provide its response. If submitting the referral on the CEAG Consultation Referral Form this should be emailed to John Bridson.
Referrals that concern a specific patient can also be made by completing the brief 'Clinical Ethics Advisory Group Referral' form on the 'Services' tab on ICE. This form requires very brief information and simply prompts the Clinical Ethicist to contact the referrer to obtain further details of the referral.
Generally speaking, referrals will be considered at the next scheduled meeting of the Clinical Ethics Advisory Group. These take place on the third Tuesday of each month. There is also a mechanism for considering referrals for which a more rapid response is required. These 'rapid responses' are provided by a Rapid Response Team, a sub-group of the committee specifically convened to consider the referral, which will provide an opinion to the referrer within five or two days, by agreement with the referrer. Further information about the process of obtaining advice from the CEAG, including a rapid response, can be found in the CEAG Consultation Procedure.
- UK Clinical Ethics Network - The UKCEN website provides contact details for all UK clinical ethics advisory groups, along with information on ethical issues that commonly present to clinical ethics advisory groups or that arise in clinical practice.
- Inside the Ethics Committee - In BBC Radio 4's 'Inside the Ethics Committee' a panel of experts discussed real-life ethical issues that have been referred to clinical ethics advisory groups.
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CEAG Terms of Reference | 09/11/2023 | 0.03 MB |
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Consultation Procedure | 09/11/2023 | 0.10 MB |
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CEAG referral form | 09/11/2023 | 0.03 MB |
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CEAG current membership | 09/11/2023 | 0.01 MB |
