MEDIC ALERT

Medic Alert is an internationally recognised medical identification system.  For a one-off membership fee, you receive a bracelet or neck pendant, engraved with the medical condition of the wearer, a personal identification number and a Medic Alert’s 24-hour emergency number.  This means that medical personnel who do not know the wearer or their medical history are alerted to the fact that s/he has a special medical condition e.g. epilepsy, an allergy, a rare blood group.  Doctors and other professionals can then telephone Medic Alert from anywhere in the world for updated information on members.  Medic Alert is a non-profit making registered charity, sponsored in the UK by the Lions Club.  For further details contact:

 
PATIENT ADVOCACY AND LIAISON SERVICE (PALS)

PALS provides information for patients and their families and can help you deal with any concerns around your hospital treatment.   Problems can be discussed with the PALS Officer in confidence and you can work together to find a solution.

You can contact the PALS Officer between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust, Friarage Hospital, Northallerton 01609 763131 or on freephone number 0800 028 2462.

 
CONSENT TO TREATMENT

The rights of people with a learning disability should be protected and their consent or refusal to treatment respected.  The test for capacity, for giving or refusing consent to treatment is whether the person concerned can understand, in general terms, the nature of the proposed treatment and its likely effects.

The legal position is that routine medical treatment, including dental care, minor operations and medication, can go ahead, even if the person cannot consent to it.  The doctor treating the person should decide this and must be sure that such treatment is in the patient’s best interest.  In deciding this, it is good practice to consult with carers, parents and others who know the patient.  It is not, however, necessary to obtain the signed consent of a parent/carer to such medical treatment.

In cases of non-therapeutic treatments, such as sterilisation, doctors can apply to the court for a declaration that treatment in the absence of consent will be lawful on the basis of necessity.