The State of Application of Clinical Ethics Consultation in German Psychiatric Hospitals

Abstract

This study provides for the first time a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-practice of clinical ethics consultation in German psychiatric hospitals. Structures for ethics counselling were available in only 57 % of the hospitals. In about one third of the participating hospitals, structures of ethics counselling had not yet been considered or were actively dismissed. The remaining hospitals reported to be in the process of establishing ethical structures. With regard to team characteristics and concrete practical implementation, qualitative differences were found between the hospitals. In summary, ethical structures are already established in the more than half of the German psychiatric hospitals, but still there is a clear need both in terms of dissemination and the quality of practical implementation.