Medical consent urged for under-18s

XxMCRxBabyxX

I couldn't find a thread on here in my searches so please merge if there is one.

I came across this in the news today and was interested but I am confused about one thing. Haven't 16 year olds and older always been able to consent to their own ? I know from the week after my 16th birthday I had signed every single form and was give the final decision for everything involving the surgeries, scans and treatments that I had at the time.

Forgive my naivety and confusion I'm just trying to work out what exactly is being changed?

For those on Phones:

TEENAGERS AGED 16 and 17 should be allowed to consent to or decline healthcare and treatment, including contraceptive advice and psychiatric treatment, and be entitled to confidentiality on the same basis as those over 18, says the Law Reform Commission.
Its report on Children and the Law: Medical Treatment will be published by Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald this evening. It follows the publication of a consultation paper in 2009 which was the basis for public consultation. The report, reflecting this consultation, includes a draft Bill.
The proposals are aimed at ensuring mature teenagers have their views fully taken into account when seeking medical treatment, and at providing clarity to healthcare professionals and children.
The report outlines a number of general principles that should underlie the proposed legislation, including a recognition of family as the fundamental unit of society; that the State may intervene to supply the place of parents in exceptional circumstances; and the need to take into account the rights and best interests of the child.
It stresses the evolving nature of maturity, and argues 16- and 17-year-olds should be regarded as “young persons” with the capacity to make judgments about their own health and wellbeing. Children under that age should also have their views taken into account, but should not be regarded as having the capacity to consent to or refuse medical treatment.
However, in exceptional circumstances they may have such maturity, and the report sets out the considerations that should be taken into account in assessing whether this is the case, including the nature, purpose and utility of the treatment and its risks and benefits; the stability of the child’s views and whether they reflect the child’s values and beliefs; and any other specific welfare, protection or public health considerations.
Where any person under 18 refuses life-sustaining treatment an application to the High Court would be required to decide on the validity of the refusal.
The report also recommends 16- and 17-year-olds should be enabled to make advanced care directives, specifying their treatment in the event of future loss of capacity to make decisions due to accident or progressive illness.
It recommends the development and publication of a code of practice by the Minister for Children, in consultation with the Minister for Health, based on the assistance of a broad-based working group, to provide detailed guidelines to supplement the legislation.
The report makes recommendations on the treatment of young people under the 2001 Mental Health Act, which provides for the involuntary detention of people with mental illness. This would involve amending the 2001 Act, and provides for age-appropriate facilities for children and young people suffering from mental illness, that they should receive the least intrusive and restrictive treatment possible and that the protections that apply to adults under the Act should also apply to them.

TouchingVirus

No, having had to go for several surgeries following an accident when I was 17 I can confirm that my parents' authorisation was required, in addition to my own, on the surgery clearance forms.

ballsymchugh

16 year olds can give their consent if they are deemed to be intelligent or have enough common sense. it's called Gillick competence.
determining whether someone that young completely understands what's going on is the issue then though.

XxMCRxBabyxX

TouchingVirus wrote: »

No, having had to go for several surgeries following an accident when I was 17 I can confirm that my parents' authorisation was required, in addition to my own, on the surgery clearance forms.

Having had surgeries and numerous scans and treatments, from the minute I turned 16 my mother did not sign anything.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Apologies for the double post

ballsymchugh wrote: »

16 year olds can give their consent if they are deemed to be intelligent or have enough common sense. it's called Gillick competence.
determining whether someone that young completely understands what's going on is the issue then though.

But is this what they are bringing in as the article seems to suggest or was it already in force?

That link also does not mention Ireland being covered

anndub

TouchingVirus wrote: »

No, having had to go for several surgeries following an accident when I was 17 I can confirm that my parents' authorisation was required, in addition to my own, on the surgery clearance forms.

ballsymchugh wrote: »

16 year olds can give their consent if they are deemed to be intelligent or have enough common sense. it's called Gillick competence.
determining whether someone that young completely understands what's going on is the issue then though.

Harsh

TouchingVirus

ballsymchugh wrote: »

16 year olds can give their consent if they are deemed to be intelligent or have enough common sense. it's called Gillick competence.
determining whether someone that young completely understands what's going on is the issue then though.

The Gillick guidelines only apply to the UK and not to Ireland. And the classification of a child for the purposes of Gillick Competence, as quoted on that wiki article, is persons aged 16 or under.

However, there may be a basis in law from the Non-Fatal Offences Against The Person Act (1997)

23.—(1) The consent of a minor who has attained the age of 16 years to any surgical, medical or dental treatment which, in the absence of consent, would constitute a trespass to his or her person, shall be as effective as it would be if he or she were of full age; and where a minor has by virtue of this section given an effective consent to any treatment it shall not be necessary to obtain any consent for it from his or her parent or guardian.

(2) In this section “surgical, medical or dental treatment” includes any procedure undertaken for the purposes of diagnosis, and this section applies to any procedure (including, in particular, the administration of an anaesthetic) which is ancillary to any treatment as it applies to that treatment.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as making ineffective any consent which would have been effective if this section had not been enacted.

Perhaps my own situation has skewed my view on this, I was on morphine and a few other drugs before they went to surgery but I do remember having to sign forms, and having to get my parents to sign the forms too. I now believe this was probably due to questions about my ability to consent under the influence of these drugs.

juliek

16 year olds should be able to make up their own mind - they'renot children any more!

TouchingVirus

juliek wrote: »

16 year olds should be able to make up their own mind - they'renot children any more!

Aye, but they're not adults either - can't get into 18-rated movies, nightclubs, purchase cigarettes or alcohol etc

Pherekydes

juliek wrote: »

16 year olds should be able to make up their own mind - they'renot children any more!

If they're dependent on their parents then they are children, regardless of age.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Pherekydes wrote: »

If they're dependent on their parents then they are children, regardless of age.

So you're saying that 25 year olds still living at home should need their parent's consent if they ever needed any medical treatment?

Wolfe Tone

It depends what the surgery is imo... Some people at 16 are just retards and aren't mature enough to make decisions themselves, cosmetic surgery is one example

Pherekydes

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »

So you're saying that 25 year olds still living at home should need their parent's consent if they ever needed any medical treatment?

If you understand the meaning of 'dependent' then you can answer that yourself.

flyaway.

I've been making all my own medical decisions, signing my own forms etc without any need to ask my parents since I turned 16.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Pherekydes wrote: »

If you understand the meaning of 'dependent' then you can answer that yourself.

Which 25 year olds living at home can be...
And 16 year olds are not always

Mike 1972

Pherekydes wrote: »

If you understand the meaning of 'dependent' then you can answer that yourself.

So if I have a partner/spouse who is out of work (or on a far lower salary than mine) do I now get a say/veto in all their medical decisions

Balfie

When I was 16 I broke my leg an had to have surgery on it, I had to sign the form for consent myself, I asked could my parents do it an I was told no cause I was able to make my own decisions.. I was dosed outta it on morphine an signed it, by just scribbling on the page, will never forget it..

I hate the stupid questions they ask ya when ya go into A&E, A broken leg an I was asked, "What does the pain feel like?"

Eh feels like I just got hit by a car an it hurts, give me something for the pain!

Pherekydes

Mike 1972 wrote: »

So if I have a partner/spouse who is out of work (or on a far lower salary than mine) do I now get a say/veto in all their medical decisions

Did I not say "dependent on their parents..."? Yes, yes I did.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Just to try err back to my question.

If 16 year olds can already consent themselves what is this new decision bringing to the table that wasn't already there?

7sr2z3fely84g5

similar footnote on condoms-
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/plan-will-allow-16yearolds-to-buy-condoms-2830219.html

THE Government will consider a controversial new law allowing teenagers as young as 16 to buy condoms -- despite not being old enough to legally have sex.
In a major report published today, the Law Reform Commission will recommend that 16 and 17-year-olds should be able to consent to and refuse medical treatment, including over-the-counter medicines, surgery and mental health services.
However, it has called for 16-year-olds to be able to access treatment, including contraception, without their parents' knowledge. This is in spite of the age of consent being 17.
The commission is also recommending that only in "exceptional circumstances" should those aged under 16 years be able to make such decisions without parental knowledge.
But in such cases, health care professionals must first assess the patient's level of maturity and encourage them to involve their parents or guardians in making the decision. In its final report on 'Children and the Law: Medical Treatment', the commission acknowledged the "complex interaction" between the rights, responsibilities and roles of parents and young people. It makes 20 recommendations aimed at clarifying the existing law in the area which allows 16 and 17-year-olds to allow or refuse treatment and ensuring young people's views are fully taken into account.
Contraception
However, in recommending that 16-year-olds be able to buy contraception, it creates an anomaly as the legal age of consent in Ireland is 17 years.
Fianna Fail spokesman on children, Charlie McConalogue, welcomed the report, but said there was an issue with 16-year-olds accessing contraception. "The object of government policy has to be to try and encourage young people not to engage in sexual activity until they're ready for it and not before the legal age of consent.
"This document will be a useful contribution to what is a sensitive debate and I welcome the fact that the Law Reform Commission is looking at this issue," he added. The commission also envisages a situation where under 16s could access medical care, including contraception, without the knowledge of their parents. However, it argues that this must only happen in exceptional circumstances. It conceded that while the issue of contraception will garner much media and public attention, it stressed that its report does not make any recommendations on the wider topics of teenage pregnancy and availability of contraception.
The commission also called for those aged 16 and 17 to be presumed to have the capacity to make an advance care directive.
Such "living wills" set out what treatment a person wants to have, in the event they are incapacitated through their illness and can include directions such as not resuscitate them in event of heart failure.
However, it added that where any person under 18 refuses life-sustaining treatment, an application to the High Court would still be required."An assessment of a minor and a young person by a trained and experienced health care professional is crucial in determining capacity, rather than assuming capacity on the basis of age," said the report. The report also calls for the Mental Health Act 2001 to be amended so that a mental health tribunal rather than the District Court reviews the admission and treatment of young people under 18 years of age.

Mike 1972

Thought one could buy condoms at any age

K-9

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Thought one could buy condoms at any age

One of the Haughey truisms, and there weren't many was an "Irish solution to an Irish problem" and it is still there 30 odd years later.