According to the latest regulations, when can the patient's relatives consent to surgery for the patient?
Under the latest regulation, when can the relatives of the patient consent to surgery for the patient?
Based on Article 65 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023, the provisions are as follows:
Performing surgery, invasive interventions
1. Surgery or invasive interventions on the patient shall only be performed after the patient or the patient's representative as prescribed in Points a, b, c, and d, Clause 2, Article 8 of this Law has consented.
2. Surgery or invasive interventions on patients who are legally incapacitated, have difficulties in perception, control behavior, limited civil capacity, minors, or patients without relatives shall be carried out according to the provisions of Article 15 of this Law.
Surgery or invasive interventions on a patient can be performed after obtaining the consent of the patient's representative; however, not all relatives of the patient can be considered as the representative.
The representative of the patient must be a person with full civil capacity, including:
- A person chosen by the adult patient;- A person chosen by the patient's family members if the adult patient cannot choose for themselves and has not authorized someone before falling into an incapacitated or cognitive difficulty state;- The authorized representative and the legal representative of the patient as prescribed by the Civil Code 2015;- The legal representative of the legal entity as prescribed by the Civil Code or a person assigned by the legal entity responsible for managing, caring for, and nurturing the patient under the provisions of the Civil Code 2015.
Under the latest regulation, when can the relatives of the patient consent to surgery for the patient? (Image from the Internet)
According to the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023, how are patients without relatives received and handled?
Based on Article 72 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023, the reception and handling of patients without relatives are as follows:
- When receiving and treating patients without relatives, the medical examination, and treatment facility is responsible for inventorying, making a record, and preserving the patient's property.
- Within 48 hours from the time of receiving the patient without identifying the patient's relatives, the medical examination and treatment facility has the following responsibilities:
+ Notify the People's Committee of the commune where the medical examination and treatment facility is located to search for the patient's relatives through mass media;+ Create a dossier proposing the reception of social protection subjects with special difficult circumstances into social assistance facilities as prescribed by law for abandoned children under 6 months old at medical examination and treatment facilities.
- If the patient has been treated stably but still cannot identify the relatives and is incapacitated, has cognitive difficulties, or limited civil capacity, the medical examination and treatment facility is responsible for creating a dossier proposing the reception of social protection subjects with special difficult circumstances into social assistance facilities as prescribed by social protection law.
- In case the patient dies, the medical examination and treatment facility is responsible for handling it as follows:
+ Handling the case where the person brought to the medical examination and treatment facility had passed away before arriving:++ If there are identity papers and the relatives can be contacted, the medical examination and treatment facility must notify the relatives to receive the body;++ If there are no identity papers or identity papers but cannot contact the relatives, the medical examination and treatment facility must notify the People's Committee of the commune where the facility is located within 24 hours of receiving the body.
The People's Committee of the commune where the medical examination and treatment facility is located is responsible for receiving the body and organizing the burial within 48 hours of receiving the notification.
+ Handling the case of death at the medical examination and treatment facility:++ The medical examination and treatment facility is responsible for issuing the death notice; conducting death audit; completing and storing the patient's medical records; taking and preserving samples of the body to serve in identifying the patient's identity in accordance with Point b, Clause 1, Article 73 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023; notifying the patient's relatives to organize the burial;
++ The medical examination and treatment facility is responsible for notifying the People's Committee of the commune where the facility is located within 24 hours of the patient's death if the patient died without being received or their relatives refused to receive them.The People's Committee of the commune where the medical examination and treatment facility is located is responsible for receiving the body and organizing the burial within 48 hours from the time of receiving the notification from the medical examination and treatment facility as prescribed in Point b, Clause 2, Article 73 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023.
- The medical examination and treatment facility is responsible for nurturing, caring for, and treating the patient from the time of acceptance until completing the procedures to transfer the patient to a social assistance facility or until the patient dies.
- The Government of Vietnam regulates the payment of costs for nurturing, caring for, and treating patients as defined in Article 73 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 and handling patients without relatives who are foreigners.
Can the person directly caring for the patient be considered the patient's relative?
Based on Clause 11, Article 2 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023, the patient's relatives are defined as individuals in the following cases:
- Husband or wife; biological parents, adoptive parents, parents-in-law; biological children, adopted children, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law of the patient, or other family members as defined by the Law on Marriage and Family 2014;
- The patient's representative;
- The person directly caring for the patient during medical examination and treatment at the medical examination and treatment facility but is not a medical practitioner.
Thus, the person directly caring for the patient during medical examination and treatment at the medical examination and treatment facility but is not a medical practitioner can be considered the patient's relative.
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