Today at RCSI, 3U Partnership will introduce the first of a series of 3U Masterclass in Healthcare Ethics and Law, which will examine the medical, legal and ethical implications of the new Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015.

In speaking about the topic of the first 3U Masterclass, Dr Adam McAuley, law lecturer at Dublin City University and member of 3U Partnership’s Healthcare Ethics and Law Working Group, says: “A clinician has a legal and ethical obligation to obtain a patient’s informed consent to medical intervention. While this does not generally give rise difficulties when the patient has the capacity to give or refuse consent to medical intervention, the issue is more complicated when clinicians are asked to treat patients who lack capacity to consent to or refuse necessary medical intervention because of permanent cognitive impairment or temporary factors such as unconsciousness, confusion or the effects of fatigue, stress, pain or drugs.”

In the past, clinical teams choose between two courses of action. First, the team might apply to court to make the patient a ward of court under the Lunacy Act 1871. Once a person is a ward of court, the High Court must make every important decision about the ward’s welfare. Alternatively, the team would seek proxy consent from a patient’s family or next of kin, despite there being was no legal basis for this course of action. 

Groups representing patients with challenged capacity successfully lobbied the outgoing government to pass the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. Dr McAuley says “The 2015 Act replaces the antiquated wardship system of the Lunacy Act 1871 with nuanced and sophisticated principles and mechanisms to treat patients with challenged capacity. The 3U Healthcare Ethics and Law Masterclass offers an informative and instructive insight into the origins of the 2015 Act and how the principles and mechanisms of the 2015 Act will operate from legal, ethical and clinical perspectives."

In welcoming the first of the Healthcare Ethics and Law Masterclass series, Dr Ruth Davis, Director of 3U Partnership, said: “3U Partnership is delighted to have brought together an impressive line-up of Medical and Law experts to explore this sensitive and complex topic as part of its 3U Masterclass series in Healthcare Ethics and Law. This Masterclass provides a timely and valuable insight into this newly enacted legislation and the practical implications for professionals in both legal and healthcare settings.”

The 3U Masterclass, which will be opened by Ms Justice Marie Baker, features contributions from legal and healthcare experts in this field including Dr Charles NUI Galway; Professor Mary Donnelly and Dr Joan McCarthy UCC; Professor Brendan Kelly UCD and Ms Patricia Rickard Former Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission.

Topics that will be addressed include: The International Human Rights Framework; Legal Principles of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Legislation; Mechanisms in the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Legislation; Advance Care Directives; Implications of Advance Care Directives from an Ethical Perspective; Implications of the 2015 Act from a Clinical Perspective.