Children's hospital charters revisited.

Abstract

A few months ago, and on behalf of the Care Quality Commission which is the English health care regulator, I was inspecting a children’s ward in a large general hospital in London, England. One of my roles was to ask the inpatient children about their recent care experiences. During an interview with one very articulate 11-year-old girl, I was asked the question, ‘‘Aren’t we kids supposed to have a bill of rights when we are in hospital?’’ Subsequent to the interview with the child, I asked the nursing staff if I could have a copy of the National Children’s Hospital charter only to be met with blank looks. I made a point, on return to my university office, to