GUARDIANSHIP ACT 1987 - SECT 37
When treatment may be carried out without any such consent
GUARDIANSHIP ACT 1987 - SECT 37
When treatment may be carried out without any such consent
37 When treatment may be carried out without any such consent
(1) Medical or
dental treatment may be carried out on a patient to whom this Part applies
without consent given in accordance with this Part if the medical practitioner
or dentist carrying out or supervising the treatment considers the treatment
is necessary, as a matter of urgency:
(a) to save the patient's life, or
(b)
to prevent serious damage to the patient's health, or
(c) except in the case
of special treatment--to prevent the patient from suffering or continuing to
suffer significant pain or distress.
(2) Minor treatment may (subject to
subsection (3)) also be carried out on a patient to whom this Part applies
without any consent given in accordance with this Part if:
(a) there is no
person responsible for the patient, or
(b) there is such a person but that
person either cannot be contacted or is unable or unwilling to make a decision
concerning a request for that person's consent to the carrying out of the
treatment.
(3) The medical practitioner or dentist carrying out, or
supervising the carrying out of, minor treatment in accordance with subsection
(2) is required to certify in writing in the patient's clinical record that:
(a) the treatment is necessary and is the form of treatment that will most
successfully promote the patient's health and well-being, and
(b) the patient
does not object to the carrying out of the treatment.
