Published November 28, 2025
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Clinical Ethics Consultation: Ethics matter to all of us!

Creators

  • 1. Division of Palliative Medicine, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Österreich. eva.masel@meduniwien.ac.at.
  • 2. Herz Jesu Krankenhaus, Vienna, Österreich.
  • 3. Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Wien, Österreich.
  • 4. Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Österreich.
  • 5. Center for Biomedical Research and Translational Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Österreich.
  • 6. Clinical Department of Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital St. Pölten, Karl Landsteiner University St. Pölten, St. Pölten, Österreich.
  • 7. Clinical Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital St. Pölten, Karl Landsteiner University St. Pölten, St. Pölten, Österreich.
  • 8. Department of Radiation Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Österreich.
  • 9. Department of Anesthesia and General Intensive Care, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Österreich.
  • 10. University of Innsbruck
  • 11. Institute for Ethics and Law in Medicine, University of Vienna, Wien, Österreich.
  • 12. University of Vienna
  • 13. Ludwig Boltzmann Institute Digital Health and Patient Safety, Wien, Österreich.
  • 14. Institute for History and Ethics of Medicine, Martin Luther University of Halle, Wittenberg, Schweiz.
  • 15. UNESCO Chair on Bioethics, Ethics, Collections and History of Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Österreich.
  • 16. Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Österreich.

Description

Clinical Ethics Consultation (CEC) provides support to treatment teams in complex decision-making situations, focusing on patient autonomy, interprofessional collaboration and the legal framework. Following the introduction of CEC at the Vienna General Hospital and the Medical University of Vienna, a structured service has been established that systematically integrates ethical issues into everyday clinical practice. As well as conducting ethics case consultations, the initiative includes training programs, development of documentation tools for therapy goal planning and expansion of curricula and basic medical education. The aim is to strengthen teams' decision-making competence, to make ethical principles visible, and to sustainably increase the quality of patient-centered care. This supplement presents the background, implementation steps and experiences of the initiative, and illustrates practical approaches to embedding clinical ethics within an increasingly complex healthcare system in a sustainable way.
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