Work of a paediatric bioethics centre during the COVID-19 pandemic first phase.

Objectives: Decisions with an ethical component have been controversial during the COVID-19 pandemic, whether leaked intensive care unit (ICU)-rationing documents, transfer of people to care-homes to 'protect the National Health Service' or the duty to treat patients despite inadequate personal protective equipment. To counter criticism of ethics per se, and to help those planning ethics support we describe the practical work of a children's hospital bioethics team in supporting children, families and clinicians during this unprecedented period.

Design/setting: Three phases of activity: (i) preparation: we composed several documents to support/guide hospital teams and, together with colleagues, provided them to regional inpatient, community and hospice settings.