Policy and Guidance
CECs develop and provide input into policies and guidance, sometimes identifying areas where a written policy or guidance would be useful, and sometimes reviewing existing policies and guidance from an ethical perspective.
Example: Devon Ethical Reference Group
The Devon Ethical Reference Group (DERG) undertook its work during the initial waves of the covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in early 2020.
Unlike locally-situated CECs, the DERG was an advisory group that was convened to consider the issues in relation to the pandemic that arose at the Devon system level. The Group therefore covered a range of health and social care organisations in Devon, all of whom had representation on the DERG. The group also included medico-legal input and external ethicists.
One outcome of its work, prepared in readiness for the second wave, was an ethical framework, which aimed to support the NHS in Devon to manage the pandemic.
Beyond the input of the members of the multidisciplinary group, DERG used its nationally-recognised Citizens Panel, targeted focus groups and a public webinar to ensure that there was robust engagement and input into the ethical framework from a wide range of stakeholders.
You can read more about the DERG’s engagement activities and the resulting recommendations here.
The final ethical framework can be found here.
You can find further information about this function, including downloadable resources, in Clinical Ethics Resources and Downloads.