Topic
Disagreements in the care of critically ill children
Disagreements in the care of critically ill children
Policy Briefing
Published 03/04/2019
There have been several recent high-profile cases of healthcare teams and parents fundamentally disagreeing about the care of critically ill children in the UK. Disagreements of this kind have happened before, but these cases have attracted an unprecedented level of attention from professionals, policy makers, families and wider communities, and the media, both in the UK and internationally.
This short project explores the social and medical factors that might be contributing to how disagreements about the care of critically ill children develop in the UK, and how they are being resolved. We commissioned reviews of current research and academic opinion, held a multidisciplinary workshop and met with a number of individuals and organisations. We have published a bioethics briefing note that summarises the evidence and the potential challenges for policy-makers.
