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Pandemic & Beyond Response to Draft Terms of Reference for the UK COVID-19 Inquiry

Submitted 7 April 2022. This response to the COVID-19 inquiry draft terms of reference consultation is based on evidence drawn from a meta-analysis and ethics review of pandemic impact research, which has been jointly commissioned by the UK Pandemic Ethics Accelerator and Pandemic & Beyond, two UKRI/AHRC funded initiatives. The review is intended for submission […]

Skills and Training

Innovation and adaptation, including the move to digital, has been a feature of individual and organisational response to the pandemic across the arts and creative sector.  Arts and Humanities research exploring this has exposed a need for wide-ranging skills development and training in the cultural sector to support future inclusion and accessibility and to ensure […]

Guidance, Messaging and Behaviour Change

Arts and Humanities research during the pandemic has been vital in helping us understand how public health messages are received within different communities, how communication platforms affect interpretation and reach, and how effective messaging can combat misinformation and build public trust.  Researchers have investigated how rumours and conspiracy theories originate, how they spread and the […]

Governance: Ethics, Data and Procurement

During the pandemic, AHRC-funded research has examined questions relating to legal and ethical preparedness and responsiveness within health and social care and in government. Studies cover public sector procurement, COVID-19 related fraud, the use and management of data by the public sector, and vaccine development, uptake and delivery. They have identified a need for cross-departmental […]

Ethics, Law, and Governance

An Urgent Review of Single Source Procurement During the Pandemic Recommendations for Best Practice and Reform Dr Luke Butler(University of Nottingham) Children, acceptable health risks and COVID-19 Ethical guidance for a fair policy response Dr Sapfo Lignou(University of Oxford) Combatting Gendered, Sexual and Online Harms and Risks During the COVID-19 Pandemic Developing Resources for Young […]

When Pandemic and Everyday Ethics Collide: Supporting Ethical Decision Making in Maternity Care and Paediatrics During the COVID-19 Pandemic

About the project This project focused on how the pandemic response created significant ethical issues for providers of non-COVID-19 services when deciding how to prioritise and reconfigure services in maternity care and paediatrics. It conducted a rapid review of policy making processes with decision makers, testing their ethics approaches, and examined their application in clinical […]

An Urgent Review of Single Source Procurement During the Pandemic: Recommendations for Best Practice and Reform

About the project This project has investigated “single source” (non competitive contract awards) procurement of urgent goods and services made by public bodies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has investigated whether additional controls could improve procurement and safeguard transparency, public trust and value for money. It has developed a standard operating model on […]

The Observatory for Monitoring Data-Driven Responses to COVID-19 (OMDDAC)

About the project The Observatory for Monitoring Data-Driven Approaches to COVID-19 (OMDDAC) is a collaboration between Northumbria University & the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). OMDDAC researches data-driven approaches to COVID-19, with a focus on legal, ethical, policy and operational challenges. Studies have analysed key data-driven responses to Covid-19 and collated lessons learned throughout the pandemic […]

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Masking emotions & sterilising care: ‘reset’ ethics and the unintended consequences of COVID-19

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused far-reaching consequences for health systems worldwide. In responding to the pandemic, decision-makers have to balance competing interests and difficult trade-offs have to be made. We are told that Government guidance continues to ‘follow the science’, but such guidance must also be values-based. Transparency in the values that underpin those […]

Documentation of Life during COVID-19: Understanding (Lack of) Touch from a Deafblind Perspective

Case Study Covid-19 has acutely heightened our awareness of, and need for touch, simply because we were told not to touch. For deafblind communities, who rely on haptic experiences to navigate the world, the fear of touch and intimacy in a post-Covid-19 society has imposed new challenges and further increased social isolation. It has simultaneously […]