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Consent to Medical Treatment i...
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Medical Records in South Africa: A Medical Protection Guide
Consent to Medical Treatment in South Africa: A Medical Protection Guide
Introduction
Capacity
Assessing decisional capacity
Compromised decisional capacity
Children and young people
The Children’s Act 2005
Information
Other aspects of consent
Communicable diseases
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders
Advance directives
Adults lacking decisional capacity
Minors
Who should take consent?
Implied and express consent
Refusing consent
Case studies
Appendix 1 - Key legislation referred to in the text
Appendix 2 - Links to relevant information
Appendix 3
Appendix 4 - Children's Act (38 2005): General regulations regarding children
References
Common Problems: Managing the Risks in General Practice in South Africa
Common Problems: Managing the Risks in Hospital Practice in South Africa
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Consent to Medical Treatment in South Africa: An MPS Guide
Correct as of August 2012
Consent to Medical Treatment in South Africa - An MPS Guide
Summary
Consent is not a signature on a form, but a communication process.
Competent adult patients can refuse to consent to treatment or withdraw their consent once given.
To be valid, consent must be obtained from a competent informed person free from undue duress.
All adults are assumed to be competent to consent to treatment unless there is reason to believe their decisional capacity has been impaired.
Decisional capacity is not an “all or nothing” concept – a person’s capacity to make a decision depends on the nature of the decision.
Consent can be given by specified surrogates if a patient’s decisional capacity is impaired.
If they have the maturity to do so, children aged 12 or over may consent to medical treatment on their own behalf and to surgical treatment with the assistance/assent of a parent or guardian.
For consent to be valid, the person giving consent must be given all relevant information, including the material risks and consequences of each option, including no treatment.
HIV testing without a patient’s consent is illegal, except in circumscribed situations authorised by law.
When a patient loses decisional capacity, an advance directive made when he or she was still competent must be honoured unless there are good reasons for believing that the patient changed his or her mind.
Browse Articles
Introduction
Capacity
Assessing decisional capacity
Compromised decisional capacity
Children and young people
The Children’s Act 2005
Information
Other aspects of consent
Communicable diseases
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders
Advance directives
Adults lacking decisional capacity
Minors
Who should take consent?
Implied and express consent
Refusing consent
Case studies
Appendix 1 - Key legislation referred to in the text
Appendix 2 - Links to relevant information
Appendix 3
Appendix 4 - Children's Act (38 2005): General regulations regarding children
References
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Medical Records in South Africa: A Medical Protection Guide
Introduction
Part 1: Quality and accessibility
Comprehensive
Contemporaneous
Comprehensible and accurate
Attributable
Standards
Part 2: Disclosure and security
Professional ethics
Where allowing access might be permissible
Sharing information about HIV status
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Appendix 1: Retention and disposal of records
Appendix 2: Ownership and transfer of records
Appendix 3: Paper records – environmental risks
Resources
References
Consent to Medical Treatment in South Africa: A Medical Protection Guide
Introduction
Capacity
Assessing decisional capacity
Compromised decisional capacity
Children and young people
The Children’s Act 2005
Information
Other aspects of consent
Communicable diseases
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders
Advance directives
Adults lacking decisional capacity
Minors
Who should take consent?
Implied and express consent
Refusing consent
Case studies
Appendix 1 - Key legislation referred to in the text
Appendix 2 - Links to relevant information
Appendix 3
Appendix 4 - Children's Act (38 2005): General regulations regarding children
References
Common Problems: Managing the Risks in General Practice in South Africa
Chaperones
Common Problems: Managing the Risks in Hospital Practice in South Africa
Introduction
Understanding your legal and professional responsibilities
The role and powers of the Council
Ethical considerations
When patients lack capacity
Respect for patient confidentiality
Probity
Clinical management
Checking procedures
Prescribing for children
Systems and resources
Failures of communication
Recording essential information
Communicating with patients
If things go wrong
References
Appendix 1: List of ethical rules, regulations and policy guidelines published by the HPCSA
Appendix 2: Assessing decisional capacity
Appendix 3: Sources of guidelines, research and evidence-based care
Handling the media - A guide for doctors
Learning from cases – Anaesthetics
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