Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A M Bridgman.
Over recent years practitioners are increasingly being asked to attend to, or to provide treatment for, adult patients with some degree of mental illness, either in their homes or in the dental surgery. This final paper in the series deals with the lawful delivery of care or treatment in the face of resistance, through the use of restraint.
Over recent years practitioners are increasingly being asked to attend to, or to provide treatment for, adult patients with some degree of mental illness, either in their homes or in the dental surgery. Because the issue of competence and the assessment of the patient is crucial to this aspect of dental practice this second paper is devoted to an overview of that assessment process; outlining the legal tests and standards to be employed.
Over recent years practitioners are increasingly being asked to attend to, or to provide treatment for, adult patients with some degree of mental illness, either in their homes or in the dental surgery. Demographic changes, an ageing population with increasing incidence of dementia, and the philosophy of 'care in the community' for those with long-term mental health problems will ensure that such requests will continue. Such requests present the practitioner with a number of ethical and legal problems. This series of papers looks at the legal issues that arise by reference to case scenarios in this area of 'special needs' dentistry. This first paper deals with the issue of consent, and the legal duty of care that arises on the part of the dentist when attending a patient who is unable to consent to treatment.
The House of Lords in F v West Berkshire Health Authority [1989] considered the lawfulness of providing care and treatment for a mentally incapacitated adult. They did not, however, directly consider the use of restraint to enable the provision of care in the face of resistance from the patient. The law has since had good cause to give consideration to this important issue. This paper establishes the present law in the context of using restraint to deliver care. Although the legal principles established have derived from what might be considered to be "hard cases", life-and-death cases, they apply to all aspects of routine medical, dental and nursing care. Further, the paper considers the recent government proposals and the effect those proposals may have on the routine care of such patients.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.