Whitehouse Communications delivered the political and media campaign for the Charlie Gard Foundation to secure ‘Charlie’s Law’, a Bill designed to protect the doctor-parent relationship in future disputes over the treatment of a child and to prevent similar cases from ending up in court.
In the House of Commons, more than 15 MPs sponsored a Private Members Bill tabled by Bambos Charalambous MP (Labour) in February 2020. In the House of Lords, former British Medical Association (BMA) President Baroness Finlay of Llandaff took forward Charlie’s Law as part of a wider Access to Palliative Care and Treatment for Children Bill, which reached Committee Stage. The firm also secured national media coverage for the Foundation’s spokespersons, including Charlie’s parents, two former BMA Presidents and politicians, in outlets including ITV News, the BBC, the Independent, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph.
The challenge
The Charlie Gard Foundation was established following the death of Charlie Gard in 2017, after a high-profile court dispute between his parents and the hospital responsible for his treatment. The Foundation approached Whitehouse Communications to help build political and media support for ‘Charlie’s Law’, a Bill designed to protect the doctor-parent relationship in future disputes over the treatment of a child, and to prevent similar cases from ending up in court.
The brief required sustained work across both Houses of Parliament, engagement with the medical community and its representative organisations, and national media presence for the Foundation’s spokespersons, so that the Bill and its underlying principles could gain the political traction, professional endorsement and public awareness needed to shift the framework in which such disputes are resolved.
Our approach
Whitehouse Communications ran the campaign across three coordinated tracks: parliamentary work in both the Commons and the Lords, engagement with the medical community and its representative organisations, and national media presence for the Foundation’s spokespersons.
The work focused on:
- In the House of Commons, building cross-party support for Charlie’s Law and securing more than 15 MPs as sponsors of a Private Members Bill tabled by Bambos Charalambous MP (Labour) in February 2020.
- In the House of Lords, working with former British Medical Association (BMA) President Baroness Finlay of Llandaff to advance Charlie’s Law as part of a wider Access to Palliative Care and Treatment for Children Bill, which reached Committee Stage in the parliamentary Bills process.
- Leading conversations with the medical community, and engaging in discussions with medical organisations to formulate their official positions on the Bills, building the professional consensus needed for legislative and clinical acceptance of Charlie’s Law.
- Securing national media coverage for key spokespersons of Charlie’s Law, including Charlie’s parents, two former Presidents of the British Medical Association and politicians, in outlets including ITV News, the BBC, the Independent, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph.
The outcome
The Charlie’s Law campaign secured wide-ranging cross-party support in both Houses of Parliament. The Private Members Bill tabled by Bambos Charalambous MP in February 2020 attracted more than 15 sponsoring MPs. Baroness Finlay of Llandaff’s Access to Palliative Care and Treatment for Children Bill, which incorporated Charlie’s Law, reached Committee Stage in the House of Lords. National media coverage was secured across ITV News, the BBC, the Independent, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, featuring Charlie’s parents, two former Presidents of the British Medical Association and politicians, and discussions with the medical community and its representative organisations continued in parallel.
For the Charlie Gard Foundation, the campaign has translated the family’s advocacy into concrete parliamentary process, professional dialogue and sustained public awareness of the framework in which disputes between medical teams and parents over the treatment of a child are resolved.
