5. and 6. A medical practitioner responsible for the treatment or care of a patient in the terminal phase of a terminal illness, or a person participating in the treatment or care of the patient under the medical practitioner's supervision, is, in the absence of an express direction by the patient or the patient's representative to the contrary, under no duty to use, or to continue to use, life sustaining measures in treating the patient if the effect of doing so would be merely to prolong life in a moribund state without any real prospect of recovery or in a persistent vegetative state'. The Act maintains former prohibitions against administering medical treatment for the purpose of causing death and against assisted suicide. Age of consent to treatment The age of consent to medical treatment remains at 16. There is provision in the Act for a register of anticipatory directions and medical powers of attorney, which must be produced at the request of doctors and others with a proper interest.
Registration is voluntary.
Telephone 8274 0361. This explanation does not cover all aspects of the Consent to Medical Treatment and Palliative Care Act 1995 It should be used as an information guide only.