Mr Stephen Honeybul1
1Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic with its extreme pressure on resources and ICU beds has prompted many healthcare providers to consider more fully the potentially futile nature of some treatments and resources might be better managed. This is especially relevant in the context of neurosurgery which is highly resource dependent in terms of technology, funding, and manpower and it may be difficult to balance fair, equitable and sustainable resource allocation, especially in circumstances where those healthcare resources become limited or completely exhausted.
Indeed, it may be necessary to consider limiting the availability of certain neurosurgical services or perhaps reconsider the utility or otherwise of performing procedures that commit very restricted resources, such as intensive care beds, to patients who are arguably receiving limited long-term benefit. In these circumstances, the decision-making paradigm is challenging and there are several ethically disparate viewpoints that need to be reconciled. These include but are not limited to, Futility, Utilitarianism and the Rule of rescue.
Biography:
A fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, The Australasian college of Surgeons and a member of the Neurological Society of Australasia. Past member of the Neurosurgical training Board of Australia and Current chief Examiner for the FRACS in Neurosurgery. Current interests involve clinical ethics and stem cell driven cranial reconstruction.