Decision-making and ethical dilemmas experienced by hospital physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, global healthcare systems faced unprecedented challenges, with a lack of resources and suboptimal patient care emerging as primary concerns.

Our research, using a comprehensive 24-item electronic questionnaire, “Reflections on the Provision of Healthcare during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” delved into the experiences of 938 physicians across the Czech Republic.

Over fifty per cent observed a “lower standard of care” compared to pre-pandemic levels. A division arose among physicians regarding a decision’s medical, ethical, or legal basis, with a notable gender disparity: male doctors leaned towards medical perspectives, whereas females accented the ethical perspective. Decision-making concerning health care limitations required agreement among the physicians on duty, interdisciplinary teams, or shift supervisors. Physicians reported varying degrees of patient or family participation in health care decisions. Variables such as age, pre-existing health conditions, and life expectancy influenced care decisions. Surprisingly, half of the physicians faced refusals of patients’ transportation to better-equipped facilities due to resource constraints. One-third of physicians never discuss the decision about care limitation and other options with patients or their families. As a result, almost fifty per cent of the physicians rarely or never imparted information about care limitations to patients.

The survey shed light on the profound ethical dilemmas hospital physicians face across different types of healthcare facilities during the pandemic. It uncovered the need for open dialogue and scholarly debate on resource allocation and strengthening the role of patients and their families in care decisions in future healthcare crises.