Page 3850 - Week 12 - Thursday, 30 October 2014
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person may be a carer or another person whom the individual trusts. A nominated person cannot make decisions such as agreeing to treatment but can express the person’s view when they may be too unwell to do so themselves. A nominated person must be advised or consulted at a number of points in the treatment process so that they can provide input. The provision provides an opportunity for the person to have an advocate and means the treating team will know who the best person is to ask about the views and preferences of the person receiving treatment.
The bill includes new principles and a number of provisions throughout to support a stronger, collaborative working relationship between clinicians and carers. For example, a carer’s view must be taken into account when consideration is being given to ending a cared-for person’s involuntary treatment order.
Carers often have a big role when a family member has a mental illness, particularly if the illness is ongoing or involves repeated episodes of illness. Carers need support, including information, to enable them to provide safe and effective care. The bill does not limit consultation with carers. Clinicians, record holders, are also currently able to provide treatment information to a carer where the person does not have capacity and the clinician considers the information is needed by the carer in order to provide safe and effective care.
The limitation on providing treatment information only occurs when the person has capacity and does not consent to the information being provided. It is further limited so that information may be passed if the situation is life threatening or an emergency. These provisions are in the Health Records (Access and Privacy) Act, principle 10, and are the identical provisions applying in broader medical healthcare.
The review of the act has highlighted the need to ensure that record holders understand the current provisions and that they enable information to be provided in a range of circumstances in order to support safe and effective care. This will be an outcome of the review at a policy, protocol and training level.
It can be challenging to adequately support carers and, at the same time, provide necessary protection for a consumer’s right to privacy. The government is confident that the provisions in this bill set a framework to attempt to get that balance right.
The bill proposes that people with a mental illness who elect to comply with treatment but are not assessed as having capacity to make the decision can be treated under a guardianship order or power of attorney. This measure will avoid people being placed on an involuntary order when they are not refusing treatment.
The bill includes new information-sharing measures that provide for agencies to develop protocols to clarify what information is to be shared when care is shared between agencies. These provisions aim to ensure that information necessary for people’s safe and effective care is shared and that the person’s privacy is otherwise protected.
New forensic provisions match those in larger jurisdictions and answer an emerging need in the ACT as we grow. These new provisions also required careful consideration in a human rights compliant jurisdiction.
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