Conference hears about crucial role of healthcare workers
By Finnian Cox
A conference held in Cork this week on the Assisted Decision-Making Act recognised the crucial role healthcare workers have played in supporting the framework.
Tuesday saw health and legal agencies attend a conference discussing the progress of the act, which has been described as a “transformative” support for people who have issues with decision-making capacity.
The two-day event was a collaboration between UCC’s School of Law, the HSE National Office for Human Rights and Equality Policy, and the Decision Support Service (DSS), held in the Kinglsey Hotel.
The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 allows people to make legal agreements on how they can be supported to make decisions about their personal welfare, property and affairs.
First drafted in 2015, the act was implemented in April of 2023, with this week’s conference operating as a reflection on how the act has progressed primarily in the health and social care setting.
The attendees of the two-day event were from a range of backgrounds, including health and social care workers, as well as advocacy groups, disability service providers and legal practitioners.
Topics discussed at the event included the key learnings and challenges associated with the framework, as well as the crucial role that healthcare staff have played in delivering the act.
Director of the DSS, Áine Flynn, described the importance of the act, saying people have the right to control their own lives as far as possible.
“It is heartening that staff in health and social care settings have embraced the key reforms introduced by the 2015 Act,” she said,
She also recognised that staff have seized the opportunities to facilitate access to the supports under the Act as an intrinsic feature of care.
“The concept of ‘my decisions, my rights’ was not new and had already been adopted in health and social care policies and standards,” she said.
However, she acknowledged there are challenges still for people in their day-to-day practice, and the goal of the conference was to provide learning opportunities on all sides.
The conference also heard from experienced speakers who outlined challenges they faced, as well as the opportunities the legislative framework presented.
Professor Mary Donnelly, School of Law, UCC said the legislation is a chance to “empower people who need support in making decisions to participate as fully as possible in the decisions that affect them.”
Prof. Donnelly described the conference as a unique opportunity to collaborate, share best practice, and hear from those directly affected by the legislation.
Professor Donnelly added the aim of the conference was to “ensure that people whose capacity is in question are a priority for our healthcare and legal professionals. This is an Act for everyone in society - any of us may need this Act at some point in our lives.”
General Manager at the HSE’s National Office for Human Rights and Equality Policy, Caoimhe Gleeson, said: “There are many people accessing our health services whose ability to make certain decisions about their life and choices may be affected, either on a temporary or a permanent basis.”
Ms Gleeson continued: “Given the unpredictability of life, it is important to consider and plan for what would happen to you if you became unable to make decisions for yourself due to incapacity or illness.”
Ms Gleeson added: “Making an Advance Healthcare Directive is one way to enable you to be treated according to your own will and preferences even when you no longer have the capacity to make decisions.
“(This) conference is part of the HSE’s ongoing programme of work to assist our staff, to hear from those directly affected by the Act and learn from best practice across the country on how to respect the human rights of the people we care for,” Ms Gleeson concluded.