Responding proportionately to the COVID-19 pandemic in UK long-stay inpatient pediatric wards

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on how healthcare and social care were delivered in the United Kingdom. Infection prevention and control measures were introduced in all settings to prevent transmission within, to, and from them. A case study of an inner-city pediatric surgical ward in late autumn 2020 was created for this chapter to explore the ethical and legal dimensions of the impact of these measures on patients, their families, and healthcare staff. Material for the case study and the impacts discussed were informed by research carried out during the pandemic. As part of a project entitled When Pandemic and Everyday Ethics Collide: Supporting Ethical Decision-Making in Maternity Care and Pediatrics During the COVID-19 Pandemic, a National Health Service (NHS) Reset Ethics Project. Data was collected from NHS staff and service users between July 2020 and September 2021. The chapter discussion reflects research findings related to the loss of community on hospital wards and the effect this had on staff and parents. The chapter also addresses how parental visiting restrictions may have eroded parents’ rights to family life and the loss of their right to parent. Finally, the chapter explores the negative effects on all concerned of staff being responsible for policing restrictions on the ward. The measures were, on balance, proportionate, given the staff’s duty of care, but the costs were probably more significant than originally envisaged. This should be reflected in future planning measures and in greater stakeholder involvement.