Insight 2022 – Day 6 – How do you know if you’ve made an ethical decision?

How do you know if you’ve made an ethical decision?

Decisions in health and care have ethical implications. Resources are finite, but needs are not; money spent on one service cannot be spent on another; providing treatment for some people means ‘denying’ treatment to others.

This can be fraught territory, so how might we navigate it? What does it mean to make a good ethical decision? What different approaches are there? And what does this mean in practice?

Professor Angie Hobbs explored these questions, sketching out different ways of thinking about ethics, before suggesting practical steps for decision makers wanting to make sound ethical choices. In doing so, she also described her ‘ethical review’ of the Midlands Decision Support Network’s analysis of inequalities in access to planned care.

Angie is Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield (a position created for her). She has a particular interest in the ethics of flourishing and wellbeing, and how these ideas apply to real world challenges.

Angie has spoken at the World Economic Forum at Davos, the Houses of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the United States Air Force Training Academy and the Global Future Council for Values, Ethics and Innovation. She has also been the guest on Desert Island Discs, Private Passions and Test Match Special. She is on Twitter @drangiehobbs and her website is angiehobbs.com