Part 1
The ethics of how we treat older people: lessons from a pandemic
Dr Muna Al-Jawad
Muna Al-Jawad is a consultant in Elderly Medicine at BSUH and senior lecturer in medical education at BSMS. During the first wave of the COVID pandemic she worked on the acute floor and the elderly medicine wards, treating many people with COVID.
Katharine Wright
Katharine Wright is the Assistant Director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, an independent body that informs policy and public debate about the ethical questions raised by biological and medical research. She was responsible for the Council’s latest inquiry, Research in global health emergencies: ethical issues, which published its detailed report and recommendations in January 2020, and which has informed the COVID-19 research response. Her next project will be looking at the ethical implications of the emerging role of science and technology in helping people live well in old age. Previous work with the Council includes exploration of the ethical issues associated with the care and support of people with dementia, in research with children, and in ethical approaches to the donation of bodily materials for treatment or research. Before joining the Council in 2007, Katharine worked in health law, ethics and policy in the House of Commons, in the English Department of Health and in the National Health Service.
Lessons learnt from providing End-of-life care in a pandemic
Dr Andreas Hiersche
Andreas Hiersche studied medicine and trained in General (Internal) Medicine in Cologne, Germany. He moved to London to train in Palliative Medicine and was appointed as a Macmillan Consultant in Palliative Medicine in Brighton in 1998, working at the Martlets Hospice, the Community Team, the Sussex Beacon and Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals.
From 2003, Andreas lead on the palliative care curriculum and teaching for Brighton and Sussex Medical School and in 2010 Andreas established the Hospital Palliative Care Team at BSUH. Although Andreas has retired from his clinical post, he continues his role at BSMS as (Deputy) Lead for phase 3. Andreas’ interests include medical education and public education on dying and death.
Mark Dianaletto
Mark Danieletto is a clinical nurse specialist at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. He has worked within the hospital palliative care team for the past 6 years and previously as a nurse specialist for lower GI cancers for 12 years. In his spare time, he plays clarinet in a trad jazz band.
The Open Justice Project: Shining a light on Capacity, Protection and the Courts
Prof Celia Kitzinger
Celia Kitzinger is a scholar-activist, with a 40-year academic career in psychology, currently Honorary Professor in the School of Law and Politics at Cardiff University. She is co-founder and co-director (with Gill Loomes-Quinn) of the Open Justice Court of Protection Project. For the last decade Celia has been working as a researcher and advocate in relation to serious medical treatment decisions, supporting families of those deemed not to have capacity to make those decisions for themselves. She also works for a charity providing information and support about Advance Decisions to Refuse Treatment.
Kirsty Stuart
Kirsty Stuart is a Public Law & human rights solicitor at Irwin Mitchell. She advises on a range of Court of Protection health and welfare issues relating to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. She has a special interest in urgent medical treatment cases and cases which involve a cross-over of medicine and law.