Health Law: Rights of a Child Concerning Medical Treatment

Running head; Health Law 1
Health law
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Health law 2
Introduction.
Health law revolves around the rules which governs how health centers are
supposed to conduct their business in treating patients and its delivery of health care services.
Health law makes sure all legal acts are followed to the letter. Such acts are divided into two
where one is about laws that protects the patient’s rights and the other is the law that gives the
health care personnel the authority to perform their duty. Different countries have different acts
on health law that makes sure all citizens receive the care. However, some of the laws are
universal and are supported by each country such as all citizens have the right to health and a
health institution has a legal responsibility to respond to all emergencies. In this essay we will
focus on the rights of a patient mainly the rights of a child concerning medical treatment. The
Gillick competence right for children will be our main focus.
Gillick Competence
The Gillick Competence is a right under the health law that was first used
in England to determine whether a child under 16yrs of age is able have permission to
dictate their own medical decisions. (Eekelaar ,2017). Formally, medical decisions for
children were made by the parents or guardians. The Gillick competence was to be
enacted after an examination done to determine whether the child is able to make
decisions with maturity and intelligence and not just decisions but the right decision after
understanding all the risks involved and its benefits. Children above the age of 16 are
allowed to make their medical decisions without their parent’s consent since they are old
enough to know what is wrong and what is right. (Lilian, 1993).

Health law 3
Despite Gillick competence giving children the power, there are some
instances when this doesn’t apply and legal action where a judge and lawyers are
included especially if the child and parents and the doctors have different views. Parents
decisions are still considered relevant though they aren’t used to determine the right
decision. Allowing a child to make important and crucial decisions concerning their lives
is a complex topic considering various factors such as children’s bodies are much more
susceptible to diseases and also children have less experience in life situations.
(Sheehan,2017). Therefore, despite children being granted the rights to make their own
decisions, some laws have to be made in a case where the decision made by the child
needs to be overridden and this is where the court comes in as stated by Sheehan (2018)
In spite of requiring a court’s ruling after decision between a competent child and the
parents or doctor, different courts sometimes come up with two different decisions like
the different in decision in2013 when two Australian court had different ideas with
Nicholas (2015) providing full story.
Basis for Accessing the Gillick Competence
Gillick Competence is not just a right offered to children but some analysis must
be done to make sure all conditions are met before giving the child the right to make their own
decisions. The most basic assessment is determining whether a child is able to understand the
whole concept of the disease. It is made sure by making all the knowledge about the treatment
available to the patient. The knowledge includes the advantages of taking the treatment, risks
involved in the treatment either short or long term and also the side effects that are accompanied
by the treatment such as pain. By doing so and the child understands everything then they are
allowed to make a decision.