Resolution
14th EACH Conference Frankfurt / Germany
September 26 – 29, 2018

In line with the EACH Charter for the Rights of Sick Children and its Annotations* , the member organisations of the European Association for Children in Hospital call upon all governments to ensure that:

Having regard to ethical and legal considerations and as a fundamental part of the quality of healthcare for children, managers, healthcare professionals and insurance companies should strive for optimal patient cooperation without restraint, for patient comfort and the avoidance of suffering, pain and fear.

In order to deal with pain, fear and stress and to promote positive cooperation and engagement with sick children, professionals in child healthcare should: 

• have the competence, interpersonal and social skills to make a connection with and to gain the trust and co-operation of children. They should be able to communicate in an empathetic and patient manner with children and their parents; 

• have the professional skills, competence and experience to administer safe, effective and comfort-directed pain management procedures, and to ensure that children understand and accept such procedures (either verbally or non-verbally).

Delegates represented from Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Frankfurt, September 29, 2018

* The EACH Charter and its annotations 

Article 4.1: Children and parents shall have the right to be informed in a manner appropriate to age and understanding. 

Article 4.2: Steps should be taken to mitigate physical and emotional stress. 

Article 8: Children shall be cared for by staff whose training and skills enable them to respond to the physical, emotional and developmental needs of children and families,

Article 10: Children shall be treated with tact and understanding and their privacy shall be respected at all times. 

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Article 3.1 and Art 3.3:  Best interests of the child

Article 12.1: Respect for the views of the child

Article 19: Child’s right to protection from all forms of violence  

Article 24: Children’s right to health and health services

General Comment No 15 (2013) on the right of the child to the highest attainable standard of health (Art. 24)

DOWNLOAD THE EACH CHARTER AND ITS ANNOTATIONS

It was a time for celebration when delegates from Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom gathered in Frankfurt from 26th-29th September to celebrate the  25^thanniversary of the founding of the European Association for Children in Hospital (EACH) in 1993 and also the 30^thanniversary of the ‘birth’ of the EACH Charter, which was written in Leiden in the Netherlands in 1988. Coincidentally AKIK (Aktionskomitee Kind Im Krankenhaus) the German host organisation, was also celebrating its 50^thanniversary. 

The EACH Coordinating Committee met and the biennial meeting of the General Assembly took place where delegates shared information about their respective organisations and countries and discussed the new resolution. A thought provoking Conference held at Frankfurt University, arranged by AKIK and open to the public, which covered the subjects of pain and communication, was followed by a visit to the Clementine Children’s Hospital in Frankfurt the next day, thus rounding off a stimulating and motivating Congress.