Are gastroenterologists aware of the role of ethics committees?

A hospital ethics committee (EC) is an organized body of people, convened to identify, analyze and help resolve moral problems that arise in the care of patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the need to educate endoscopists about the role of the ECs in European and Mediterranean countries.

A structured questionnaire concerning the role of ECs was sent to the representatives of endoscopy societies, which are also members of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

The response rate was 59% (26/44). About half of the responding representatives had attended more than 1 lecture or read more than 1 article about ethics during the previous 10 years. The percentage of hospitals with an established EC varied between countries. In 15% of the countries <20% but in 58% of the countries >60% of the hospitals have established ECs. Sixty-five percent of the responders believe that the EC is an advisory committee and 31% an executive committee. Endoscopists believe that ECs have been of great help to their specialty in their country.

The roles of the ECs are not clear to endoscopists and there is a need for education in this field.