Child As Vulnerable Patient

Lynn Hagger is a lecturer in Law at the University of Sheffield. Her research interests lie in health care generally and children's rights in particular. In addition to her legal career, Lynn also has a long-term non-executive involvement in the NHS where she has provided law and ethics training for a broad range of health professionals. For the last five years she has been Chairperson of the Sheffield Children's NHS Trust.

'The Child as Vulnerable Patient makes a clear and thoughtful argument for empowerment of children as decision-makers in the context of health care and health policy. A valuable addition to the literature in this area, this book will be of interest to lawyers, health professionals and bioethicists.' Belinda Bennett, University of Sydney, Australia 'Hagger provides a sustained argument in favour of according greater weight to young people's autonomy in the health care context and a compelling defence of a human rights framework as the best way to achieve this. Her carefully nuanced approach and close attention to the realities of medical practice should ensure that her book is swiftly established as essential reading for anyone involved in paediatric medicine, as well as a useful resource for health care lawyers and ethicists.' Sally Sheldon, Kent University Law School, UK 'Lynn Hagger makes a carefully argued, up-to-date case for basing decisions in children's and young people's health care much more firmly in the 1998 Human Rights Act and the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Her book summarises and comments on a wealth of relevant law and controversial debates, and ranges from children's individual decisions to their potential greater involvement in health services planning.' Priscilla Alderson, University of London, UK 'In this timely book, Lynn Hagger argues persuasively that a community committed to human rights should strive to respect the health care choices of autonomous children. Whether in clinical or research settings, the trajectory of the law should be to protect children who say "no" while, at the same time, empowering those who want to say "yes".' Roger Brownsword, King's College London, UK

• Contents: Preface; The importance of protecting and empowering children; The law and children's autonomy; Parental responsibility and children's medical treatment; Confidentiality and children; Genetic testing and counselling: the paradigm case for family medicine?; Negligence and complaints; Children in research; Children's participation and foundation trust: some new opportunities?; Concluding remarks; Index.