Advance directive

As a competent adult, you have a legal right to give or withhold consent to medical treatment. However, if you become mentally incapacitated or unconscious, treatment may be given or withheld without your consent if medical personnel feel it would be in your best interests.

Through an 'advance directive' (also known as a 'living Will'), you retain your legal right to decline specific treatment, including life-prolonging treatment. You can also nominate someone to be consulted about medical treatment decisions, known as your 'health care proxy'.

In April 2007, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 comes into force. For your decisions in your advance directive to be valid, you must:

We advise you to talk to your GP (and hospital doctors if you are also under their care) before drafting a directive. They will be able to explain the consequences of selecting to receive or refuse certain medical treatment. They will also confirm whether you are mentally competent at the time of drafting.

You can also appoint a health care proxy in your directive if you wish. This is a person that you appoint to make decisions relating to your medical treatment if you are unable to do so. The person you choose should be someone that you know well and who you can trust to represent your wishes. They may also need to make a judgement on medical treatment that you had not accounted for. It is important that you seek their agreement and ask them to sign the directive.

Once you have drafted your directive, ensure that it is signed, witnessed and that you review it regularly. You should give copies of your directive to your GP, health care proxy, hospital case notes if appropriate and a relative or friend. The BMA (British Medical Association) suggests that you should also carry a card indicating that fact as well as giving a copy to your doctor.

To open the advance directive you will need adobe acrobat. Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.