Western Australian Current Acts

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GUARDIANSHIP AND ADMINISTRATION ACT 1990 - SECT 110ZK

110ZK .         Reliance by health professional on treatment decision

        (1)         In this section —

        take treatment action means —

            (a)         to commence or continue any treatment of a patient; or

            (b)         to not commence or to discontinue any treatment of a patient.

        (2)         If a health professional —

            (a)         takes treatment action —

                  (i)         reasonably believing that the patient is unable to make reasonable judgments in respect of the treatment action; and

                  (ii)         relying in good faith on what is purportedly a treatment decision —

                        (I)         in an advance health directive made by the patient; or

        (II)         made by the patient’s guardian or enduring guardian or the person responsible for the patient under section 110ZD;

                or

            (b)         takes treatment action —

                  (i)         in circumstances where it is reasonable for the health professional to rely on some other health professional having ascertained whether the treatment action is in accordance with a treatment decision; and

                  (ii)         reasonably assuming that some other health professional has ascertained that the treatment action is in accordance with a treatment decision,

                the health professional is taken for all purposes to take the treatment action in accordance with a treatment decision that has effect as if —

            (c)         it had been made by the patient; and

            (d)         the patient were of full legal capacity.

        (3)         For subsection (2)(a)(ii), a health professional is taken to have relied in good faith on what was purportedly a treatment decision if, after considering whether or not to rely on it, the health professional acted honestly in relying on it.

        (4)         For the purpose of determining under subsection (2)(b)(ii) whether the health professional’s assumption was reasonable, the following matters must be taken into account —

            (a)         whether the health professional sighted any written evidence that some other health professional had ascertained that the treatment action was in accordance with the treatment decision;

            (b)         anything else relevant to the determination.

        [Section 110ZK inserted: No. 25 of 2008 s. 11.]



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