Valid consent is just as important when treating children and young people as it is with adults. In some situations children are able to give consent themselves, and sometimes others need to take the decision on their behalf. This factsheet sets out the basic information to enable you to obtain the appropriate consent from children and young people.

The General Medical Council (GMC) guidelines Doctors’ use of social media establish the standards expected from every doctor practising in the UK. The guide details the principles of conduct for using social media and explains how doctors can put these principles into practice.

The Adults with Incapacity Act was introduced in 2000 to safeguard the welfare of adults (age 16 and over) who lack capacity for making their own healthcare decisions, due to a mental disorder or an inability to communicate. This factsheet provides information on how patients with incapacity should be cared for.

Supplementary GMC guidance to Confidentiality (2009) contains information for healthcare professionals on what to do when reporting gunshot and knife wounds.

Under the Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (MCA DOLS), six assessments have to be successfully conducted before a local authority (supervisory body) can authorise the deprivation of an individual’s liberty in a hospital or a care home.

The Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (MCA DOLS) provide a legal framework around the deprivation of liberty.

Parental responsibility refers to the rights and responsibilities that most parents have in respect of their children. This factsheet gives advice on who has parental responsibility and where responsibility lies in situations in which there are disagreements over the best interests of the child.

Certain circumstances can mean you are obliged to disclose information about a patient, even if you do not have their consent; under other circumstances, disclosure may be justifiable. This factsheet gives you further information about these circumstances.

Respect for patients’ autonomy is expressed in consent law; to impose care or treatment on people without respecting their wishes and right to self-determination is not only unethical, but illegal.

The GMC states that “Whether or not you have vulnerable children or young people as patients, you should consider their needs and welfare and offer them help if you think their rights have been abused or denied.” Surgery consultations, home visits, accident and emergency admissions and contact with other professionals who work with children help to build up a picture of a child’s situation.

Doctors may, on occasion, receive a request from a patient’s employer for a medical report to be delivered directly to the HR department, without the patient seeing it. However, before any medical report can be provided, you must be satisfied that the patient has given valid consent to the release of the information. This factsheet looks at the issues surrounding medical reports for employers and other organisations, and offers advice to doctors who are asked to write reports.

The GMC states that “doctors play a crucial role in protecting children from abuse and neglect”. Child maltreatment includes neglect and physical, sexual and emotional abuse. The following frequently asked questions are designed to advise MPS members what to do and who to contact, should they suspect children are at risk of, or are experiencing, harm.

The role of Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCAs) is to support and represent a person who lacks capacity in making a specific decision, and who has no-one (other than paid carers) to support them. This factsheet sets out further information about IMCAs and the role they play.

Providing access to medical records is essentially a confidentiality issue; therefore, the starting point is whether or not the patient has consented to disclosure. If not, access should be denied, unless there is some other clear justification for allowing access.

Electronic communication can provide a useful and alternative point of access for patients. However, you should make sure that, if sensitive information needs to be sent electronically, safeguards are in place to avoid breaching patient confidentiality. This factsheet sets out the potential risks of electronic communication.

The best interests principle in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (the Act) states that any act done or decision made on behalf of an adult lacking capacity must be in their best interests. This can cover financial, health and social care decisions.

Parental responsibility refers to the rights and responsibilities that most parents have in respect of their children. This factsheet gives advice on who has parental responsibility and where responsibility lies in situations in which there are disagreements over the best interests of the child.

Parental responsibility refers to the rights and responsibilities that most parents have in respect of their children. This factsheet gives advice on who has parental responsibility and where responsibility lies in situations in which there are disagreements over the best interests of the child.