We will be taking a deeper dive into three central theoretical constructs that are found in ethical discussions about deceased organ donation: utilitarianism, respect for autonomy and altruism. We will be looking at the roles these play in justifying, facilitating and incentivising deceased organ donation. We will also be looking at the dead donor rule and recent challenges to this.

Teaching will develop ethical reasoning skills, and sessions throughout the day will provide opportunities to enhance skills further with application to pertinent ethical issues. Participants will leave with a fuller understanding of key ethical issues in deceased organ donation and the way that ethical theories and argumentation can be used to address them.

• Practitioners who work directly in transplant services (CLODs, SNODs, surgeons)
• Those whose clinical work supports this (anaesthetists, emergency department staff, intensivists)
• Those who are involved in developing transplant- and donation-related policies

All teaching will be delivered online over one day. This course is structured to give opportunities to develop and practice ethical reasoning skills. All sessions will therefore be highly interactive, with a mix of interactive lectures, small group work and workshops.

09.00 Group introductions

09.30 Understanding respect for autonomy

10.30 Understanding utilitarianism

11.30 Break

11.45 What is altruism?

12.30 Break

13.00 Respect for autonomy and deceased donation: workshop

14.30 Break

14.45 What is the significance of being dead?

15.30 Incentivising deceased donation: group discussion

16.30 Reflections on the day

17.00 Close