Paediatrics: The doctor–parent relationship

The doctor–parent relationship

Most professionals do not have any difficulty with the idea that compe-tent adult patients should be involved in their treatment. In the case of children, their parents are the proxy decision-makers. In this regard, the following must be considered.

·All doctors have a duty to act in the best interests of their patients. In the UK the General Medical Council requires this standard from medical practitioners.

·Parents have the right to make decisions about a procedure on behalf of their child.

·Parents do not have the right to insist on a doctor doing something that they do not consider to be in the child’s best interest. Given this responsibility, there will be times when a doctor may be forced to act against the parents in the interests of a child.