Consent

Adults are those aged 18 years (16 years in Scotland) or over. An adult must consent to their own treatment

At 16 years of age a young person is presumed in law to have the capacity to consent, so young people aged 16 or 17 years should consent to their own medical treatment.

The Children Act 1989 sets out who has parental responsibility for a child. Mothers automatically have parental responsibility for their children.

A father usually has parental responsibility if he is:

• married to the child’s mother

• listed on the birth certificate (after a certain date, depending on which part of the UK the child was born in)

• has a court order confirming parental responsibility

Where someone aged 16 or 17 years consents to vaccination, a parent cannot override that consent. Young people who understand fully what is involved in the proposed procedure (referred to as ‘Gillick competent) can also give consent, although ideally their parents will be involved. If a Gillick-competent child consents to treatment, a parent cannot override that consent

Consent

- legal and ethical principle

- reflects the right of individuals to decide what happens to their own bodies

- is a process rather than a one-off event. It can be withdrawn at any time. 

# people must be listened to, given the information they require to make decisions about immunization, and given sufficient time and support to understand the information.

# Information include:

• details of process
• benefit
• risks (rare and common), side effect

Reference

Green book from Gov.Uk. Consent. Available on https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/994850/PHE_Greenbook_of_immunisation_chapter_2_consent_18_June21.pdf. Accessed: 8/3/2022.