You may have been asked to be a health and welfare attorney under a Lasting Power of Attorney. If so it is important that you understand what your duties are and what powers you have on the donor’s behalf.
Why Might the Donor Need to Create a Health and Welfare Power of Attorney?
The main reason is that they are no longer able to make decisions. This may be due to a general deterioration in mental capacity or as a result of an event such as a stroke. However, they will be assumed to have capacity unless it is proved otherwise. A lasting power of attorney for health and welfare allows individuals to appoint someone to make decisions for them. They can only do so if they have lost the capacity to make their own decisions.
Power of Attorney Online
You can find information about Lasting Powers of Attorney online at sites such as powerofattorneyonline.co.uk.
The Kind of Decisions Health and Welfare Attorneys Make
If you are an attorney with responsibility for health and welfare, you can make, or indeed help, the donor to make decisions about issues such as their daily care, where they live or medical care. However, you can only make these decisions once the donor does not have the mental capacity to make them.
You are also required to inform those involved in the care provided for the donor, such as doctors, healthcare staff, social workers, social care workers or care staff. It is also appropriate to contact other family members and friends of the donor. You may be asked to present the power of attorney to confirm that the donor has given you these responsibilities to act on their behalf.
Dealing with the medical treatment of the donor is an important part of the attorney’s responsibilities, and it is important to check the specifics in the actual LPA. You may also need to be able to show the LPA to the relevant care staff. You must also always make decisions that are in the donor’s best interest.
