9Informed consent for child who lacks capacity to decide on own assessment or treatment

9 Informed consent for child who lacks capacity to decide on own assessment or treatment

(1)  For the purposes of this Act, informed consent for the assessment or treatment of a child who lacks decision-making capacity may be given by a parent of the child.

(2)  To avoid doubt, for subsection (1) the informed consent of one parent is sufficient.

(3)  [Section 9 Subsection (3) substituted by No. 4 of 2023, s. 47, Applied:25 Sep 2023] Informed consent for the assessment or treatment of a child who lacks decision-making capacity –

(a) may be withdrawn, at any time, by –

(i) the parent who gave the informed consent; or

(ii) if the parent who gave the informed consent is unable to withdraw the consent or has ceased to be a parent of the child, another parent of the child; and

(b) if practicable to do so, is to be withdrawn, in accordance with paragraph (a) , before the assessment is made or the treatment is provided.

(4)  [Section 9 Subsection (4) substituted by No. 4 of 2023, s. 47, Applied:25 Sep 2023] Nothing in this Act is to be taken to prevent the withdrawal, under subsection (3) , of consent to an assessment or a treatment before the assessment is made or the treatment is provided.

(5)  [Section 9 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 4 of 2023, s. 47, Applied:25 Sep 2023] For the avoidance of doubt, if a parent of a child withdraws consent, under subsection (3) , to the assessment or treatment of the child –

(a) informed consent is not to be taken to have been given to the assessment or treatment of the child if the consent is withdrawn before the assessment, or the treatment, of the child; and

(b) if the informed consent is withdrawn during an assessment or treatment, the assessment or treatment is to be stopped as soon as it is medically safe to do so; and