The College has backed a letter to the UK Government, led by the Nuffield Council for Bioethics, asking for greater transparency around how decisions to tackle COVID-19 are being made and asking for more public engagement across all sections of society. The letter asks the UK Government to:
- Show the public what they are doing and thinking across the range of issues of concern
- Set out the ethical considerations that are informing judgements
- Explain how they have arrived at decisions including where their advice is from
- Invite a broad range of perspectives into the discussion, including wider cross public representation
- Think ahead – consult and engage other civic interests through genuinely deliberative processes such as citizens’ assemblies
The letter follows a statement by the Nuffield Council for Bioethics on the same topic.