WOMEN’S AND CHILDREN’S HEALTH NETWORK

PATIENT CARE ETHICS COMMITTEE TERMS OF REFERENCE

Role

The role of the Patient Care Ethics Committee is to provide a supportive environment within the institution that encourages the airing and structured discussion of ethical and professional issues pertaining to patient care and institutional policy, and to enhance decision making in these areas throughout the WCHN.

Desired outcomes

The WCHN Patient Care Ethics Committee will provide advice to staff on matters of ethical

concern, including specific cases and more general issues. The Committee will

·  Provide at call, a forum to assist clinical staff and patients confronting difficult ethical issues pertaining to patient care.

·  Work with the Patient Ethicist to develop a process that assists clinical staff to recognise, explore, and seek to resolve ethical and professional issues within the WCHN.

·  Work with the Patient Ethicist to provide a structured analysis of those institutional policies which are characterised by significant ethical content.

·  Support the Patient Ethicist in fostering educational initiatives in ethics.

Membership

The WCHN Executive will be responsible for the endorsement of members to the PCEC.

In the case of resignations, the appointment committee will call for new nominations and then submit a list of nominations to the executive for endorsement.

There will be 2 standing appointments to the Committee which will be permanent appointments:

·  The Patient Ethicist

·  The Clinical Risk Manager

In order to ensure continuity on the Patient Care Ethics Committee the remaining members listed below will be provided with term appointments for five years with the right of reappointment for a further five year term with no more than 50% of the membership changing in any 12 month period.

·  Chair

·  6 WCHN employees or affiliates

·  One Lay member.

A Deputy Chair will be elected from one of the existing Members of the PCEC.

The Patient Care Ethics Committee may invite others with relevant expertise to attend meetings as required.

Meeting process

The Patient Care Ethics Committee will meet at least four times a year.

Additional meetings will be held in response to the needs of clinical staff and/or patients.

A quorum will be simple majority of members.

In the absence of the Chair of the Patient Care Ethics Committee, the Chair of the Patient Care Ethics Committee will appoint a proxy Chairperson from the membership.

There is no provision for proxies should members be unable to attend the meeting.

Minutes of the meeting will be recorded and endorsed by members at the following meeting of the Committee.

Reporting

The Chair of the WCHN Patient Care Ethics Committee will provide written quarterly reports to the Executive Director and will also take issues of import to the WCHN Executive where a decision is required outside this timeframe.

Review of Terms of Reference

The terms of reference and membership of the Patient Care Ethics Committee will be reviewed by the Chair annually and, in the event of significant change, notified to the Executive.