← All questionsGS4 · 2021 · Case Studies — Individual Morality ·Pandemic Healthcare Rationing
QUESTION 10
GS4
20 marks

During the COVID-19 pandemic, India faced severe constraints in health infrastructure, staff, beds, oxygen, ambulances and crematorium capacity. You are administrator of a public hospital receiving large numbers of patients.(a) What criteria and justification would you use to deploy clinical and non-clinical staff despite infection risk and limited resources?(b) If yours were a private hospital, would your justification and decision remain the same? Explain.

WRITE IN
14 min
250 words
☆ Save✎ Write this answer

What the examiner wants

Explain: answer the exact PYQ as framed — “During the COVID-19 pandemic, India faced severe constraints in health infrastructure, staff, beds, oxygen, ambulances and crematorium capacity. You are administrator of a public hospital receiving large numbers of patients. (a) What criteria and justificatio…” Treat each scoring limb separately instead of writing a general note on Pandemic Healthcare Rationing.

ExplainMake clear how and why it happens: causes, process, and an example for each point.

Demand-wise check

  1. 1Map the stakeholders, facts, competing obligations and the ethical/public-interest conflict embedded in the case≈65 words
  2. 2Answer each explicit sub-question in the case and compare feasible options using legality, consequences, rights, fairness and integrity≈65 words
  3. 3Choose and justify an implementable course of action, including safeguards, accountability and follow-through≈65 words

Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.

Answer plan

Key facts and stakeholdersEthical/legal issuesRealistic options with consequencesReasoned choiceImplementation safeguards and accountability

Where marks usually go

  • Writing generally about Pandemic Healthcare Rationing without directly resolving: “During the COVID-19 pandemic, India faced severe constraints in health infrastructure, staff, beds, oxygen, ambulances and crematorium capacity.”
  • Under-developing the second scoring limb: “You are administrator of a public hospital receiving large numbers of patients.”

Value addition

  • Stakeholder map + options-versus-values decision matrix
    → Draw it in the body, next to the point it supports.

Official source anchors

These are authoritative sources selected for this exact PYQ. Where a card is an official-domain anchor rather than a fact-level citation, verify the precise provision, definition or data point on the linked source before using it.