Corporate moral responsibility in health care. 2000

S Wilmot
School of Health and Community Studies, University of Derby, United Kingdom.

The question of corporate moral responsibility--of whether it makes sense to hold an organisation corporately morally responsible for its actions, rather than holding responsible the individuals who contributed to that action--has been debated over a number of years in the business ethics literature. However, it has had little attention in the world of health care ethics. Health care in the United Kingdom (UK) is becoming an increasingly corporate responsibility, so the issue is increasingly relevant in the health care context, and it is worth considering whether the specific nature of health care raises special questions around corporate moral responsibility. For instance, corporate responsibility has usually been considered in the context of private corporations, and the organisations of health care in the UK are mainly state bodies. However, there is enough similarity in relevant respects between state organisations and private corporations, for the question of corporate responsibility to be equally applicable. Also, health care is characterised by professions with their own systems of ethical regulation. However, this feature does not seriously diminish the importance of the corporate responsibility issue, and the importance of the latter is enhanced by recent developments. But there is one major area of difference. Health care, as an activity with an intrinsically moral goal, differs importantly from commercial activities that are essentially amoral, in that it narrows the range of opportunities for corporate wrongdoing, and also makes such organisations more difficult to punish.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009014 Morals Standards of conduct that distinguish right from wrong. Morality
D011332 Privatization Process of shifting publicly controlled services and/or facilities to the private sector. Privatizations
D004991 Ethics, Institutional The moral and ethical obligations or responsibilities of institutions. Ethics, Health Facility,Ethics, Hospital,Ethics, Organizational,Organizational Ethics,Health Facility Ethics,Hospital Ethics,Institutional Ethics,Institutional Obligations,Ethic, Health Facility,Ethic, Hospital,Ethic, Institutional,Ethic, Organizational,Facility Ethic, Health,Facility Ethics, Health,Health Facility Ethic,Hospital Ethic,Institutional Ethic,Institutional Obligation,Obligation, Institutional,Obligations, Institutional,Organizational Ethic
D006113 United Kingdom Country in northwestern Europe including Great Britain and the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland, located between the North Sea and north Atlantic Ocean. The capital is London. Great Britain,Isle of Man
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012941 Social Responsibility The obligations and accountability assumed in carrying out actions or ideas on behalf of others. Obligation, Social,Responsibility, Social,Accountability,Communitarianism,Future Generations,Obligations to Society,Social Accountability,Accountability, Social,Future Generation,Generation, Future,Generations, Future,Obligations, Social,Responsibilities, Social,Social Obligation,Social Obligations,Social Responsibilities,Society, Obligations to
D013222 State Medicine A system of medical care regulated, controlled and financed by the government, in which the government assumes responsibility for the health needs of the population. National Health Service, British,Socialized Medicine,British Health Service, National,British National Health Service,Medicine, Socialized,Medicine, State,Service, British National Health
D017149 Private Sector That distinct portion of the institutional, industrial, or economic structure of a country that is controlled or owned by non-governmental, private interests. Private Enterprise,Enterprise, Private,Enterprises, Private,Private Enterprises,Sector, Private
D017150 Public Sector The area of a nation's economy that is tax-supported and under government control. Public Domain,Public Enterprise,Domain, Public,Domains, Public,Enterprise, Public,Enterprises, Public,Public Domains,Public Enterprises,Public Sectors,Sector, Public,Sectors, Public

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