What rights does the person I care for have?

The person you care for has the right to:

make decisions about their health care and treatment, unless there is evidence that they can’t do this
be properly consulted about their health care and treatment

have someone with them at their medical appointment if that’s what they want, and
have help with making any decisions and saying what they want to happen (for example, help from you as the carer, from an advocacy service or through communication support).

An advocacy service can help someone express their views or make their own decisions, or can speak on their behalf. You can find the contact details of some advocacy organisations here.

Any decisions about a person’s health care or treatment must always:

Can a health professional treat the person I care for without consent?

Yes. In special cases, the person you care for can be treated without consent in the following situations:

If the person you care for cannot make a decision on their own and no one is available to make the decision, then treatment can be given without consent. But the treatment must benefit the person, and the health professional must complete a certificate of incapacity.
In an emergency, when there is no time for anyone else to make a decision, doctors can give treatment without consent but only if it is needed to save the person’s life or stop them suffering more serious harm.
If the person you care for is being looked after under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, they can be treated for their mental illness or disorder without consent.

Only a doctor appointed by the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland can allow the following treatments to be given to people with incapacity:

abortion
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for mental disorder
drugs to reduce sex drive
any treatment that may lead to sterilisation (for example, some treatments for cancer).

Only the Court of Session can allow the following treatments to be given to people with incapacity:

Research on adults with incapacity can only be done if:

it will increase knowledge of the condition causing the person’s incapacity
it will benefit the person or others with a similar condition, and will cause little or no risk or discomfort (if the research is to test a medicine, the benefit to the person must be greater than any risk, or there should be no risk)
the person does not object
consent has been obtained from a legal proxy, or the person’s nearest relative if they don’t have a legal proxy, and
the research has been approved by a Research Ethics Committee.

Page last edited: 28 June 2011