Guardianship Act 1987

Medical or dental treatment may be carried out on a patient to whom this Part applies without consent given in accordance with this Part if the medical practitioner or dentist carrying out or supervising the treatment considers the treatment is necessary, as a matter of urgency—

to save the patient’s life, or

to prevent serious damage to the patient’s health, or

except in the case of special treatment—to prevent the patient from suffering or continuing to suffer significant pain or distress.

Minor treatment may (subject to subsection (3)) also be carried out on a patient to whom this Part applies without any consent given in accordance with this Part if—

there is no person responsible for the patient, or

there is such a person but that person either cannot be contacted or is unable or unwilling to make a decision concerning a request for that person’s consent to the carrying out of the treatment.

The medical practitioner or dentist carrying out, or supervising the carrying out of, minor treatment in accordance with subsection (2) is required to certify in writing in the patient’s clinical record that—

the treatment is necessary and is the form of treatment that will most successfully promote the patient’s health and well-being, and

the patient does not object to the carrying out of the treatment.