The important role of morality in modern healthcare is bound by our environment - insecurity and risk. Ethically responsible conduct is a prerequisite for preventing and counteracting multiple moral risks in society. Moral responsibility means responsibility for every specific choice in our everyday life and respecting ethical standards imposed by society. Regarding moral responsibility, ethical codes are an effective mechanism of action. In medical institutions in the Republic of Bulgaria ethical committees are established on the basis of medical ethics, morally responsible behavior and the existence of codes of ethics. Their function is to protect the interests of healthcare professionals, patients and healthcare institutions by reducing health inequalities and ensuring ethical and responsible behavior towards patients and healthcare professionals.
The results of a survey conducted among 149 medical specialists and 269 patients working and being treated in three different healthcare establishments in the country show that there is a low level of awareness of ethical committees, their functions and role. A total of 83.2% of the surveyed medical specialists and 70.3% of the patients surveyed were not informed that the ethics committees in the healthcare establishments have consultative function. Not knowing the ethics committees of the institute limits the rights of medical professionals and patients by hindering their access to them.
The analysis of the results of the survey among medical specialists and patients shows that there is a low level of awareness of the ethical committees operating in the healthcare institutions in the country and their functions. It is necessary to create working groups and training modules to familiarize the medical specialists with the existing ethical committees in the country and their functions, which would have a positive effect on the medical practice and the patients themselves.
Pozgar., G., Legal and Ethical Issues for Health Professionals, Jones and Bartlett Learning, LLC, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4496-4775- 9, p. 7
Austin, W., What Is the Role of Ethics Consultation in the Moral Habitability of Health Care Environments?, AMA Journal of Ethics, June 2017, Volume 19, Number 6: 595- 600, p.595-600
Farber Post, L., Jeffrey Blustein, Handbook for Health Care Ethics Committees, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015, ISBN 1-4214- 1658-1, p. 214
Закон за лекарствените продукти в хуманната медицина, Обн. ДВ. бр. 31 от 13 април 2007 г.
