Local Ethics Committee (LEC)
Local Ethics Committees are a recommending body that analyzes situations from the perspective of the whole organization, including policy changes, program redesign, and staff education.
Employees, patients, or physicians who bring forward a concern may be invited to participate in the consultation process. This is not necessary, as the requestor may be kept anonymous if they prefer.
Ethics Committee Functions
Ethics Committees act as a resource for clients, families, practitioners and staff. They educate committee members, staff, practitioners and others interested in health-care ethics. They encourage open dialogue within the local area and broader community concerning ethics issues. Ethics Committees act in a consultant role on research activities with ethical implications that may include approval or denial of research projects. They will also help in the development of policies, procedures, rules and regulations for issues having ethical implications. They present information on ethics to the public. They evaluate information, cases, events brought before the committee and make recommendations about the same. The functions of the committee are evaluated on an annual basis.
Ethics Committees Mandate
The Ethics Committees advocate a high standard of ethical practice, knowledge and sensitivity throughout the organization. Ethics Committees provide recommendations to leadership on matters pertaining to organizational ethics, clinical ethics and research ethics.
- Recommend educational programs which examine ethical issues for Ethics Committee members, health-care professionals and the general public.
- Act in an advisory capacity on matters of policy related to ethical issues.
- Recommend processes that suppose an environment in which health-care professionals, individuals and families can discuss ethical concerns.
- Provide a process for hearing ethical issues from individuals and groups in the region.
- Provide process for review of research requests within the region for ethical and bioethical concerns.
Ethics Committee Membership represents the following areas
- Administration (senior leadership representation)
- Nursing
- Community at large
- Palliative Care
- Faith community
- Physician group
- Front-line staff directly involved in care delivery
- Quality & Privacy
- Legal
- Recreational Therapy
- Member with a role in research
- Health Authority Board Member
- Mental Health
- Social Work
Confidentiality
Ethics Committees are bound by the Saskatchewan Health Authority policy concerning the use and release of personal health information. Records of consultation made by each Committee will be maintained using appropriate means to ensure confidentiality.
How do I bring a concern forward?
An email can be sent to your local ethics committee Chair.
In the initial email you do not need to provide details about the situation, but it is helpful to offer a general account of the problem. The Chair will later ask you to provide as much detail as possible to give a clear description of the event(s).