Children and War

image of Children and War

Hi Friends,

For the first time in history, RCH has cancelled its Grand Round, which was scheduled for this Wednesday on the theme "Children and War".

Would you please urgently sign these three letters asking for its reinstatement?

Hi Friends,

For the first time in history, RCH has cancelled its Grand Round, which was scheduled for this Wednesday on the theme "Children and War".

Would you please urgently sign these three letters asking for its reinstatement?

Email to RCH CEO

1,578 emails sent

Compose your email

Name

Email

Subject:

I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the Royal Children’s Hospital’s decision to cancel the Grand Round on Children and War.

As a world leader in child health, RCH has always stood proudly as an advocate for children’s safety and wellbeing. That on a topic as urgent and devastating as the impact of war on children, the hospital would choose silence is profoundly disappointing. It is inconsistent not only with the hospital’s proud legacy, but also with the vision you publicly uphold: “a world where all kids thrive”. It stands in stark contrast to your stated values of being curious, courageous, inclusive, and kind. Cancelling this Grand Round undermines those very principles.

My colleagues at RCH have told me that a Grand Round has never before been cancelled. Why then was this specific session — on such an important and urgent topic — silenced? It raises deep concerns that an independent academic process is now vulnerable to political interference. This mirrors troubling developments we have recently seen in the United States, and it runs counter to Australian values of fairness, integrity, and moral courage.

War wages severe and complex trauma to children and their families involved with far reaching impacts, spanning generations. Our RCH healthcare community represents a diverse range of ethnicities and backgrounds, with many staff members directly or indirectly impacted by war, and many carry this burden; some acutely or via intergenerational trauma.

As a healthcare worker, this decision causes me moral injury. It is our duty as healthcare workers to stand up for the rights of children. Children in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and many other conflict zones are being killed, maimed, starved, and traumatised. We recognise the devastating and lasting impacts of war on their physical and mental health. When we fail to fulfil this duty, we not only fail the children we serve, but we also harm the moral integrity of our profession. Through silencing an opportunity to engage in the topic of war and the impact on children, psychological safety for staff is severely compromised: many staff are feeling culturally and psychologically unsafe; grappling with moral injury with the current global crises, exacerbated by working within an institution that actively silences staff efforts to uphold core ethics, which predicate our work as healthcare professionals. As healthcare workers we are obligated to work in accordance with virtues of nonjudgement, beneficence and justice. This politicised decision by our CEO has compromised the core ethics of our institution and denied staff a learning opportunity, where our community could have come together to share expertise, and show solidarity in our concern for the grave impacts of war on children.

The decision to cancel this Grand Round is not neutral. It sends the message that some children’s suffering is too uncomfortable to acknowledge. That is unworthy of an institution of RCH’s stature. Ethics are mere platitudes if they’re found wanting in the face of adversity. We have a moral duty to use our skills, expertise and platform to protect vulnerable children impacted by war.

I demand that this Grand Round be reinstated. The world looks to RCH not only for clinical excellence, but for leadership, advocacy, and courage. In this moment, the hospital has a duty to stand firmly with children everywhere — especially those whose lives and futures are being destroyed by war.

I urge you to reconsider. To do otherwise is to fail the very children RCH exists to protect.

How we use the data you enter on this form

Do Gooder (the advocacy platform powering this online action) processes personal information from you that you enter on this form so that we can provide the functions and related services to you and The Campaigner (the organisation responsible for this online action) for their legitimate purposes, including possibly exporting it to other systems, and to effectively respond to enquiries and communications related to those services.

Specifically when you enter:

Your location data (residential address or postcode) it is used to locate your elected representative, to pre-populate your email signature and to provide The Campaigner with a visualisation of the location of the support for this campaign.
All other data you may enter, including your email address, name, telephone number, commentary and so on is used by The Campaigner to advocate for the campaign’s goals and where required may be sent to the target of the campaign.

The data collected by Do Gooder is also used by us in aggregate form to improve the service and may be held on your behalf outside your country of residence by our third party service providers. These providers are bound by contract to only use personal information on our behalf, in accordance with agreed terms. While the privacy laws of the country in which personal information is stored or transferred may be different from those in your country, we will always have safeguards in place when storing or transferring personal information. We will never sell, rent, loan or in any other way pass your information on to other parties other than to provide this service to you and The Campaigner.

The personal information collected by Do Gooder is held subject to a Data Processing Agreement between Do Gooder and The Campaigner in compliance with the EU's GDPR and Australian law.

Learn more about our privacy policy here

How is my data used?