Abstract

The particular situation of children in hospitals is discussed on the basis of a principle of equality which is founded on both childrens' rights and theology. It is just because of these equal rights of children that special medical care is required which does justice to the characteristics and the stage of development of children. Medical care like that does not at all have tobe a general obstacle to considerations of economic efficiency. The particular dependence of children on stable social surroundings implies a priority of outpatient and home treatment as weil as the integration of parents and other important persans to whom the child relates closely when it comes to an inevitable admission in a hospital. A model of medical ethics based on »informed consent« needs particular aspects concerning the interests of children in hospitalssuch as child-orientated information and the graduated legal obligatory nature of the child 's will