Parental consent to a child's medical care while with another carer

Published byDocMuse

A parent's written consent in Poland to examinations and treatment of a child while someone else looks after them — grandparents, a camp leader, a school trip — authorising that person to receive health information and collect records. A carer who is not a parent can only agree to an examination on their own, and higher-risk procedures need the parent's separate consent; the document says so plainly and gives the parent's phone number and the child's allergies and medicines.

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Common questions

What can a child's carer who is not a parent agree to?

Someone who looks after a child on a lasting basis without a legal duty to — a grandmother, say — is the child's de facto carer and can agree to an examination when no parent is available (art. 17(3) of the Patient Rights Act). Treatment needs a parent's consent, and surgery or a higher-risk method needs it in writing (art. 18). A camp leader or trip supervisor should therefore carry a parent's consent prepared in advance.

From what age does a child consent to treatment in Poland?

A patient aged 16 or over consents together with a parent — both consents are needed (art. 17(2) of the Patient Rights Act). If a 16-year-old objects to treatment the parent agrees to, the doctor needs the guardianship court's permission (art. 32(6) of the Act on the Professions of Doctor and Dentist). A younger child has a right to the information needed for the treatment and to have their view heard (art. 9(7)).

What happens in an emergency when the parent cannot be reached?

A doctor may treat without consent where the child needs immediate help and neither a parent nor a de facto carer can be reached, and may operate where delay would risk death, serious bodily injury or serious harm to health (art. 33(1) and art. 34(7) of the Act on the Professions of Doctor and Dentist). A consent prepared in advance does not replace these rules, but it lets an ordinary illness be dealt with quickly and the parent be told straight away.