Past the peak of the pandemic: which non-Covid-19 patients should get treatment first?

27 May 2020

Some countries are now past the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, and new ethical issues are arising: the healthcare system continues to be under enormous pressure: because of safety measures, it works much less efficiently than before, there will continue to be Covid-19 patients, and there is an enormous backlog of patients whose treatments have been put on hold. Who should now get treatment first, and who will have to wait? OUCs Dominic Wilkinson, Professor of Medical Ethics and Consultant in Newborn Intensive Care, sheds some light on this important and extremely urgent ethical question, and proposes a practical solution.

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