Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Advice
  • Published:

Gillick: Who decides?

BDJ In Practice volume 35, page 26 (2022)Cite this article

Recently, there have been references in the media to the concept of Gillick competence. These references appeared in news stories and articles about medical decisions involving young patients. Whilst healthcare workers will understand the significance of this term, it is less likely that patients and their families will.

The renewed interest in Gillick first arose when, in September 2021, an Appeal Court ruled in favour of a clinic and doctors, allowing them to decide, in consultation with under 16-year-old patient, whether the provision of treatment and prescribing of puberty blockers for them was appropriate without requiring a court's consent.1

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

References

  1. Bell and another v The Tavistock and Portman Foundation Trust and other [2021]EWCA Civ 1363.

  2. Covid vaccine for 12-15 year olds- can children give consent and overrule their parents? Available online at: www.itv.com/news/2021-09-13/covid-vaccine-for-12-15-year-olds-how-will-the-vaccine-rollout-for-children-work-and-why-only-one-dose (Accessed December 2021).

  3. Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority [1986] AC112, 187[D].

  4. Re C (adult refusal of treatment) [1994] 1WLR 290.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. BDA Indemnity, British Dental Association, London, UK

    Len D´Cruz

Authors
  1. Len D´Cruz
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Len D´Cruz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

D´Cruz, L. Gillick: Who decides?. BDJ In Pract 35, 26 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41404-021-0994-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41404-021-0994-y

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links