The hospital operates under the Health Care Consent Act.  This Act states that a capable patient of any age can consent (agree) to treatment.  The consent of their parent or guardian is not necessary.  The Health Care team decides whether a patient is capable. Your child is capable of making a treatment decision if they can: Understand the information relevant to the treatment decision Understand the possible consequences of taking the treatment decision Tell us their decision If the team finds your child incapable of making a specific treatment decision, then someone else (usually a parent/guardian) will be assigned to make the decision.  This person is called a Substitute Decision Maker – SDM).