Guest Editorial

[Extract] Megan-Jane Johnstone argues in this issue (Vol. 12/3, pp. 213–224) that healthcare ethics needs to be revisited, revisioned and revitalized.1 Its practitioners have systematically failed to recognize and respond appropriately to the processes that have contributed to, created and/or compounded the vulnerability and suffering of whole groups of disadvantaged people (indigenous people, people with mental health problems, people who are disabled, people who are very old, children, amongst others). And they have failed to motivate both individuals and systems to engage personally in activities that will genuinely promote and protect the significant moral interests, welfare and wellbeing of the people belonging to these disadvantaged groups. Johnstone identifies five aspects of healthcare ethics which require sustained attention if the field of enquiry is to overcome these current failures: its nature, its goals, its purposes, its modus operandi and its significance.