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 government responses and national frameworks to deal with some of the most complex issues.
Researchers have considered pressing ethical issues including around human rights and inequalities faced by those using and working within the health and care system and how these affect access to care and treatment and working conditions.
Findings will be relevant for policymakers wanting to build public trust and to implement processes and regulation to ensure good and equitable governance across a wide spectrum of national and local contexts, as well as for those responsible for planning and delivering future emergency responses.
Projects
An Urgent Review of Single Source Procurement During the Pandemic
Recommendations for Best Practice and Reform
Dr Luke Butler
(University of Nottingham)
Combatting Gendered, Sexual and Online Harms and Risks During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Developing Resources for Young People, Parents and Schools
Professor Kaitlynn Mendes
(University of Leicester)
Fraud During a Pandemic
Identifying and Appraising New Challenges for the Criminal Justice Response in England and Wales
Dr Jennifer Collins
(University of Bristol Law School)
Models of equitable distribution of vaccines in international law
Dr Mark Eccleston-Turner
(Keele University)
OMDDAC
The Observatory for Monitoring Data-Driven Responses to COVID-19
Dr Marion Oswald
(Northumbria University)
Reset Ethics
Supporting Ethical Decision-Making in Maternity Care and Paediatrics During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Dr Lucy Frith
(University of Liverpool)
Stay Home Stories
Rethinking the Domestic During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Professor Alison Blunt
(Queen Mary University of London)
The COVID-19 Review Observatory
Tracking Parliaments’ Performance in the UK during the Pandemic
Professor Fiona de Londras
(Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham)
UK Pandemic Ethics Accelerator
Professor Ilina Singh
(University of Oxford)