----- Original Message -----
From: "Fred Cartwright"
> If a
> patient refuses to give a sample and later claims they
> weren't competent and thus their refusal is not valid
> then junior doctors end up in court being asked about
> their assessment and challenged on it if they say they
> feel they were competent. I was 20 years ago during my
> first A&E SHO job!
The juniors should not be asked to judge competence in this manner, as they
should not be making this judgement on the day. Normally such patients rely
on an independent expert to find another plausible reason for their
incompetence, e.g. head injury, and to rationalise their behaviour on the
basis of head injury rather than intoxication. I have ended up in Court on
several occasions for such matters (as the independent expert); the Court
rarely finds in the defendant's favour! (testing cannot be lawfully refused
on the basis of incompetence due to intoxication!)
AF
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