The value of clinical ethics support in Australian health care.

Professional practice in health care inevitably involves difficult ethical considerations that are often embedded in universal events: birth, periods of ill health, and death. Clinicians may be unsure in these situations about what exactly they should do. In light of this circumstance, ethics should no longer be an implicit component of Australian health care, but instead be explicitly recognised and practised. Clinical ethics support (CES) would help to optimise the ethical delivery of patient care.