One of the most difficult and important health law questions in adolescent medicine is the ability of minors to
consent to treatment and to control the health care information resulting from treatment.
His remarks came as MPs debated controversial care proposals contained in the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill, which seek to make it simpler for care homes and hospitals to hold vulnerable people who cannot
consent to treatment or care.
In the future,
consent to treatment will only have to be gained from the next of kin, not necessarily a male guardian, if the patient is under the age of 18.
Straub recommended licensed health care professionals who may treat minor patients review their state's laws on minors and their legal ability to
consent to treatment of STIs without the involvement of their parent or guardian, including disclosure of positive results and in the case of HIV care.
"Safeguards apply to individuals over the age of 18 who lack the ability to
consent to treatment in hospital.
As young children have no rights to
consent to treatment, any electroshock is forcibly given and violates recommendations from Juan E.
This
consent to treatment must be obtained even if the treatment will benefit the client.
This is because people who are authorised to give
consent to treatment may also decide who has access to information about such treatment.
Other problems included: | Concerns around the way some medicines were given and recorded, which placed people at "high risk of harm"; | Staff not being supported through appraisals, supervision and the hospice's training programme; | When patients were unable to
consent to treatment, their mental health was not always assessed - meaning the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were not always followed; | While care records were kept in a locked office, staff sometimes took them into areas where visitors could see confidential information; | A friend of one patient raised concerns they could see the arrival of the undertaker at the premises from their room, which they found "distressing".
The author covers juvenile justice, confidentiality, the mental health act, the mental capacity act,
consent to treatment, child mental and the law, the rights of the child, the Children Act of 1989 and its 2004 amendments, and many other related subjects.
Assessing patients' capacities to
consent to treatment. N Engl J Med.