Ethics and Law in Child Health Flashcards
True / False: Young people under 16 years old are assumed to lack competence
True
What is Gillick competence?
This is the ruling that children / young people have the right to consent to a treatment themselves, providing they have sufficient understanding
What are the 4 criteria which need to be fulfilled for a young person to have Gillick competence?
The young person must understand:
- What the treatment is
- Why it is being proposed
- Its risks and benefits
- The consequences of not proceeding with the treatment
Which guidance allows a young person under 16 years old to receive contraception/abortion advice and treatment without their parent’s consent?
The Fraser Guidelines allow this providing the young person has Gillick competence and fulfils the Fraser Criteria
What are the criteria of the Fraser Guidelines which must be met to allow a young person under 16 years old to receive contraception/abortion advice and treatment without their parent’s consent?
- The young person understands the doctor’s advice
- The doctor cannot persuade the young person to tell their parents
- The young person would begin or continue having sexual intercourse with or without contraceptive treatment
- The young person’s mental or physical health would be impaired if they do not receive contraception / abortion advice and treatment
- The young person’s best interests require the doctor to give them contraception / abortion advice or treatment
True / False: A young person under 16 can refuse treatment in any circumstances
False - The young person may refuse treatment only if the refusal is deemed to be in the young person’s best interests. If the decision is not deemed by doctors to be in the best interests of the young person, the doctor can go ahead and carry out the treatment anyway
Who automatically has parental responsibility for a child at birth?
Mother
Father if married to the mother at the time of birth
‘Other female parent’ if in a civil partnership with the birth mother at the time of conception
True / False: A child’s biological father automatically has parental responsibility even if they are not married to the mother at the time of birth
False, the father must be married to the mother at the time of conception or birth for them to receive automatic responsibility
How can a biological father obtain parental responsibility if they do not have it at birth?
- Marrying the mother
- Being named on the birth certificate
- Obtaining a ‘parental responsibility agreement’ with the mother, as registered by the High Court
- Obtaining parental responsibility via a court order
- Being made a guardian after the mother’s death
True / False: Biological fathers with parental responsibility do not lose this if they get divorced from the mother
True - Parental responsibility remains with both parents despite a divorce
In what circumstances do you have a duty of care to report sexual activity in a 14 year old i.e. breach confidentiality?
- If young person does not understand
- If the sexual partner is in a position of trust
- If it is suspected/known that money, pressure, coercion etc. were used to persuade the child
- If drugs/alcohol were used to persuade the young person
- If the sexual partner is known to have had abusive relationships with children in the past
- If there is a big difference in age, maturity, power between the child and the sexual partner
What are the 4 types of child abuse?
Physical
Sexual
Emotional
Neglect
List 4 places on the body where bruising on a child may be considered ‘suspicious’
Back
Back of calves
Back of thighs
Buttocks
What are the 4 outcomes of a Section 47 investigation?
Unsubstantiated allogation - no further action required
Child in need plan
Child protection plan
Looked after child i.e. removal from carers
What happens if the parents and doctors disagree on whether to continue treatment or not? E.g. if parents want to stop chemotherapy but doctors want to carry on
‘A young person should not be allowed to come to harm because the parent(s) refuse consent for treatment which is in the patient’s best interests’…The decision is likely to go through the courts, but if the treatment is deemed to be in the child’s best interests, it will go ahead even if the parents refuse. In an emergency situation, treatment will go ahead.