Participation at the Heart: Lessons from Child-centred Practice in UK Healthcare during and Beyond COVID-19

Whilst there is growing awareness of the case for children’s participation in health services, there is limited evidence on how this apparent commitment to participation and children’s rights translates into practice.
The chapter draws on examples from the authors’ original research and lived experience to consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s participation in the English National Health Service (NHS). There is evidence of children becoming more reliant on parents and carers as conduits for engagement and as sources of information, and some children with special educational needs and disability, and other potentially vulnerable groups, engaging less with services and being excluded from participation opportunities which are mainly online. But the challenges of COVID-19 have also highlighted the potential of doing things differently and developing more participatory and inclusive practice in collaboration with children. It is critical that children are involved in shaping the development of participation practice. The chapter explores how the rhetoric of children’s participation and voice can be translated into the creation of opportunities for meaningful participation which challenge and re shape institutional practices in health services and beyond.