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GILLICK FRASER GUIDELINES 1page

Gillick competence and Fraser guidelines are related but distinct terms regarding medical treatment of minors. [1] Gillick competence refers to a minor being deemed mature enough to understand and consent to their own treatment without parental consent, based on their ability to understand the proposed treatment. [2] The Fraser guidelines set out specific criteria health professionals must consider before providing contraception to minors without parental consent. [3] While initially regarding contraception, the principles of Gillick competence and Fraser guidelines have been extended to other medical treatments for minors.

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284 views

GILLICK FRASER GUIDELINES 1page

Gillick competence and Fraser guidelines are related but distinct terms regarding medical treatment of minors. [1] Gillick competence refers to a minor being deemed mature enough to understand and consent to their own treatment without parental consent, based on their ability to understand the proposed treatment. [2] The Fraser guidelines set out specific criteria health professionals must consider before providing contraception to minors without parental consent. [3] While initially regarding contraception, the principles of Gillick competence and Fraser guidelines have been extended to other medical treatments for minors.

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Stacy
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fraser guidelines/ Gillick competence

Fraser guidelines, Gillick competence are terms that are often as substitutes for each other, as if they were
interchangeable rather than two distinct but related terms.
Consent is required before medical treatment is commenced on a patient. Without the consent of the patient a
criminal offence is committed and the patient may bring a civil action against the health-care professional who
initiated the treatment. There are, of course, provisions within English law that when a patient is unable to consent,
treatment may be provided in their best interests without subjecting the health-care professional to criminal or civil
liability.

The fact that a patient is a child (under 18 yrs old) does not remove the requirement for consent.

Gillick competency (1985)

1. lawful to provide contraceptive advice and treatment to girls under the age of 16, subject to certain
guidelines (Fraser guidelines).
2. in certain circumstances a child under the age of 16 could now give consent in their own right (‘Gillick
competence’).

Gillick competence refers to the fact that some children under the age of 16 are able to give consent. The key to
whether the child can give consent is their emotional and intellectual maturity and their ability to understand the
proposed treatment. Those children who are deemed by the health-care professional to be Gillick competent are the
ones who can provide consent for the proposed treatment.

Although the Gillick case was concerned with contraceptive advice and treatment for girls under 16, the principle
that a child under 16 can consent to treatment on their own behalf has been extended to boys, and to treatment
and advice other than for contraception

Fraser guidelines

Fraser guidelines refer to a specific set of guidelines that Lord Fraser proposed in the Gillick case. The guidelines
state that contraceptive advice or treatment can be provided to a child under 16 without parental consent or
knowledge provided that the health-care professional is satisfied:

1. That the girl will understand the advice


2. That the professional cannot persuade her to inform her parents or allow them to inform the parents that she is
seeking contraceptive advice
3. That she is likely to begin or to continue having sexual intercourse with or without contraceptive treatment
4. That unless she receives contraceptive advice or treatment her physical or mental health or both are likely to
suffer
5. That her best interests require him to give her contraceptive advice, treatment, or both without parental consent.

Although initially confined to contraceptive advice and treatment, Fraser guidelines can now be extended to cover
abortion and sexually transmitted infections, as both these require that the girl is having sexual intercourse, a key
aspect of the guideline.

It should be noted that the first point in the Fraser guidelines, that of understanding, may refer to the process of
determining Gillick competence and it can then be seen that the two terms are not interchangeable. Rather, they are
two different concepts:

 Fraser guidelines referring to specific guidance that must be followed by the health-care professional to
provide specific treatment to a child;

 Gillick competence referring to the ability of the child to give consent.

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