Clinical Ethics Roundtable, 20 Oct 2026: Mitigating clinical moral distress: The role of a clinical ethics service
The clinical ethics team at Western Sydney Local Health District invite you to attend the next Clinical Ethics Roundtable, “Mitigating clinical moral distress: The role of a clinical ethics service”, online on Tuesday 20 October 2026, 7pm-8.30pm.
Abstract: In June 2025 Western Sydney Local Health District established a Clinical Ethics Service. In a review of the first 12 months of clinical ethics consultations it was found a third of the cases featured significant clinician moral distress. In almost all cases the Clinicals Ethics Consultation was a source of significant support for the staff experiencing moral distress, and contributed to a resolution of the issue leading to this phenomenon.
In this last Clinical Roundtable for the year we will present an overview of our first year of operation and present a couple of representative cases, and review the literature on the somewhat contested topic of clinician moral distress.
Our position is that this is a variably experienced but very real phenomenon with origins in both institutional and individual clinician factors, and presents a threat to clinician well-being and health service sustainability. We will consider the constructive role that clinical ethics services can play in its mitigation.
Speaker: Sally Greenaway, Clinical Ethics Consultant WSLHD, Senior Staff Specialist, Director Supportive Palliative Care, Clinical Haematology
For an online meeting link and other details, contact Sally and Asma at WSLHD-ClinicalEthicsServices@health.nsw.gov.au.
Relevant readings (optional)
Morley et al. (2022). The moral distress model: An empirically informed guide for moral distress interventions. J Clin Nursing
Brender et al. (2025). Clinicians' Perceptions About Institutional Factors in Moral Distress Related to Potentially Nonbeneficial Treatments. JAMA Netw Open.
Goitiandia et al. (2024). Recognizing the Systemic Root Causes of Moral Distress, AJOB 10.1080/15265161.2024.2416137
About Roundtable
The Clinical Ethics Roundtable sessions create room for ethics reflection and skill development. Roundtable is an informal and collegiate space to explore practical clinical ethics issues in greater depth and in conversation with clinicians, academics, and others. There will be speakers to introduce some cases or topics, but the aim of Roundtable is to provide an opportunity for discussions and reflection among attendees.
Roundtable is hosted by the clinical ethics teams at South Eastern Sydney LHD, the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network and Western Sydney LHD. There will be three Roundtable sessions in 2026.
Roundtable is supported by the Clinical Ethics Society of Australasia.
