Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (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.]