Moot Court: Withdrawing Life Support Against the Family's Wishes
| Saturday, October 22, 2016 |
| 3:40 PM - 5:05 PM |
| Riverside Theatre |
Overview
Facilitator: Georgie Haysom
Speakers: Brian Cuthbertson, William Silvester, Anne-Sylvie Ramelet, Kate Gillman, Deb Tierney
Avant has supported the attendance of these speakers
Details
Withdrawing life support against the family’s wishes: in whose best interests?
The success of intensive care is not to be measured only by the statistics of survival, as though each death were a medical failure. It is to be measured by the quality of lives preserved or restored; and by the quality of the dying of those in whose interests it is to die; and by the quality of human relationships involved in each death.” (GR Dunstan, quoted in The ANZICS statement on Care and Decision-Making at the End of Life for the Critically Ill)
Decision-making at the end of life can be complex and fraught with difficulty for both patients and staff. What might be a good death for one patient and their family may be very different to the views of another patient and family or the treatment team.
Using a hypothetical scenario, an international panel of experts will debate some of the legal, ethical and clinical issues relating to care at the end-of-life in the intensive care context, with a focus on when the family and treating team cannot reach a consensus.
Facilitated by Georgie Haysom, Head of Advocacy at Avant, the panel speakers are:
Associate Professor William Silvester, Senior Intensive Care Specialist, Austin Hospital and president of the International Society of Advance Care Planning and End of Life Care
Dr Brian Cuthbertson, Chief of the Department of Critical Care Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Professor, University of Toronto
Professor Anne-Sylvie Ramelet, Professor of Nursing Science and Director of the Institute of Higher Education and Research in Healthcare, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Kate Gillman , Head of Medico-Legal Advisory Services, Avant
Debra Tierney, Acting Senior Social Worker, Rockingham General Hospital
Speaker
Professor Brian Cuthbertson
Chief of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Professor in the Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Moot Court: Withdrawing life support against the family's wishes
Biography
Brian Cuthbertson is Chief of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Professor in the Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is also an Honorary Professor of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Aberdeen and an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the George Institute of Global Health in Sydney. His research interests include improving outcomes from critical illness and major surgery. He has over 125 peer-reviewed publications and $17million of research grants as well as playing a leading role in a number of key clinical guidelines.
Kate Gillman
Head of Medico Legal Advisory Service
Avant
Moot Court: Withdrawing Life Support Against the Family's Wishes
Biography
Kate is the Head of MLA (Medico-legal Advice) in Avant Law. In this role Kate co-ordinates the 24 hour medico-legal advisory service for Avant’s 65,000 members Australia wide.
Kate has worked in the area of medical negligence and healthcare law for over 15 years in Australia, England and Singapore. A graduate of ANU, Kate worked as an Associate to a Judge of the Supreme Court of Northern Territory and in the litigation department of the NT Attorney-General’s Department. In London, Kate was a partner in the Dispute Resolution Department of Trowers & Hamlins where she managed major claims for the National Health Service Litigation Authority and developed a particular interest in obstetric litigation.
On her return to Australia, Kate joined the major claims unit of Avant (then United Medical Protection). She re-joined the team at Avant Law in 2011, after spending a period of time living in Singapore with her family where she worked in a local law firm acting for hospitals and healthcare companies.
Georgie Haysom
Head of Advocacy, Avant
Moot Court: Withdrawing life support against the Famiy's wishes
Biography
Georgie Haysom is the Head of Advocacy at Avant, Australia’s leading medical defence organisation, and works to improve the legislative and regulatory environment for members and the healthcare system as a whole.
Georgie She has worked in health law for over 20 years, assisting and advising doctors on a wide range of medico-legal issues, including several years representing doctors in medical negligence litigation. She has a long-standing interest in the interaction between law, medicine and ethics, and the way in which the law impacts on medical practice.
She has a Bachelor of Science (Pharmacology), Bachelor of Laws (Hons 1) from the University of Sydney and a Master of Laws specialising in bioethics from McGill University.
Professor Anne-Sylvie Ramelet
Professor of Nursing Science and Director of the Institute of Higher Education and Research in Healthcare of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Moot Court: Withdrawing Life Support Aginst the Family's Wishes
Biography
Dr Anne-Sylvie Ramelet (RN, PhD) is Professor of Nursing Science and Director of the Institute of Higher Education and Research in Healthcare of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. She is also Co-President of the Nursing Directorate Research and Development Commission and Paediatric Nursing Research Consultant at the Teaching Hospital of the canton of Vaud-CHUV, Switzerland. Her research programme has focused on pain in non-verbal children in intensive care, and family support in paediatric and neonatal critical care as well as in general paediatrics, including chronically ill children. Anne-Sylvie Ramelet received her hospital-trained nursing diploma and intensive care certificate in Lausanne and her Bachelor of Nursing (Hon) and PhD in nursing sciences from the School of Nursing at Curtin University, Australia. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a registered nurse in neonatal, paediatric and adult intensive care for more than 15 years.
Associate Professor William Silvester
International Society of Advance Care Planning and End of Life Care (ACPEL)
Moot Court: Withdrawing life support against the family's wishes
Biography
Associate Professor Bill Silvester, as an intensive care specialist, chairs the ANZICS Death and Organ Donation Committee and the End-of-Life Working Group.
He is a medical consultant for DonateLife Victoria and represents ANZICS on the Organ & Tissue Authority Family Donation Conversation Steering Committee.
He was the founder and Director of the advance care planning program, Respecting Patient Choices, from 2002 until the end of 2015 and is the Immediate Past President of the International Society of Advance Care Planning and End of Life Care.
Debra Tierney
Acting Senior Social Worker
Rockingham General Hospital
Moot Court: Withdrawing Life Support Against the Family's Wishes
Biography
Debra graduated from Curtin University WA in 1998 with 24 years’ experience in the social work and welfare fields.
She has a wealth of knowledge and extensive practical experience due to the wide variety of settings in which she has practiced social work. Debra has worked in the WA prison system, Youth on the Streets and Youth Hostels, Women’s Refuges and Child Protection. Debra spent time on multiple committees developing policies, projects and services including developing the first Aboriginal specific home care packages. Debra has experience in both private and public counselling settings.
Debra Joined WA Health in 2010 as a Senior Social Worker at Armadale Health Services, covering predominantly the ED and Maternity section. Debra is currently Acting Senior Social Worker at Rockingham General Hospital in ICU, ED and MAU.
Debra has broad experience in the wide variety of patient presentations which are unique to the ICU setting. Debra is passionate about teamwork, and individualising the patient for who they are. This has been shown to improve patient satisfaction and outcomes for both the patient and medical teams. Debra is spreading her passion throughout ICU and raising awareness of the Social Work role in the department.
