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Ethical principles and a practical approach to support policy making through the next phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Zoë Fritz, Julian L Huppert, Kathleen Liddell, Richard Holton and Jonathan P Fuld
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmed.2020-0843
Clin Med December 2020
Zoë Fritz
AThe Healthcare Improvement Studies (THIS) Institute, Cambridge, UK and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
Roles: consultant in acute medicine
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  • For correspondence: Zbmf2@cam.ac.uk
Julian L Huppert
BJesus College, Cambridge; visiting professor in the Policy Institute, King's College London
Roles: director of the Intellectual Forum
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Kathleen Liddell
CMedicine and Life Sciences and reader in intellectual property and medical law, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Roles: director of Centre of Law
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Richard Holton
DUniversity of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Roles: professor of philosophy
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Jonathan P Fuld
ECambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
Roles: consultant in acute and respiratory medicine
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ABSTRACT

There is an urgent need for an ethical framework to help us address the local and national challenges that we face as clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. We propose four key commitments from which a practical and consistent ethical approach can be derived. These commitments are to articulate the needs, rights and interests of the different stakeholders affected by any policy; to be accountable and transparent, recognising that people are autonomous individuals with values and concerns of their own; to consider the impact of our actions on the sustainability of the NHS, infrastructure, service demands and staff welfare; and to treat everybody equitably, with all deserving of consideration and care. Implementing these commitments will require a number of specific actions. We must put in place frameworks enabling clear advocacy for each competing objective; communicate policy and practice effectively to the public; promote integration of decision-making among social, primary, secondary and tertiary care and reduce or stop unnecessary or inefficient interventions; minimise health inequalities; and build spare capacity into the system.

In this article, we expand on these actions, and note the legal context in which this would be delivered.

KEYWORDS
  • Ethics
  • policy
  • COVID-19
  • law
  • © Royal College of Physicians 2021. All rights reserved.
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Ethical principles and a practical approach to support policy making through the next phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond
Zoë Fritz, Julian L Huppert, Kathleen Liddell, Richard Holton, Jonathan P Fuld
Clinical Medicine Dec 2020, clinmed.2020-0843; DOI: 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0843

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Ethical principles and a practical approach to support policy making through the next phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond
Zoë Fritz, Julian L Huppert, Kathleen Liddell, Richard Holton, Jonathan P Fuld
Clinical Medicine Dec 2020, clinmed.2020-0843; DOI: 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0843
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