Legal aspects of consent to treatment in children

For better or worse, the law is progressively playing an integral part in all aspects of medical practice. Today’s doctors are expected to expand their knowledge horizon beyond medicine and ethics, to include the legal framework, or they may find themselves on the wrong side of the law. This is especially true in relation to consent to medical treatment. This article discusses the law in England and Wales, which governs consent to physical treatment in all age groups. However, it concentrates on paediatric considerations such as the consent of minors and parental consent, and especially expands on the emotive areas of conflicts between healthcare professionals and the parents or patients. In doing so, it lists the relevant guidelines and legislations available and draws examples from the wealth of domestic case law.