Legal Medicine in the Administration of Health Care

Abstract

Health services management encompasses broad areas that are covered by all aspects of the law. This chapter is divided into three components that make up a health system, namely, patients, staff, and hospitals. Under patients, the author discusses the duty of care of medical administrators to patients and the recent tort law reforms. Complex ethical and legal issues that medical administrators grapple with such as consent (including human tissue donation), advance care directives, end-of-life matters, and withdrawal of treatment are reviewed. The impact of the Charter of Human Rights on public hospitals, unique to Victoria, and the issue of wills and testamentary capacity are also covered in this section. Under staff, the author looks at public hospital medical indemnity, health professional registration and credentialling, the complexity of health industrial relations, and the potential effects of the upcoming national occupational health and safety uniform laws. Under hospitals, the implications of the new national health reforms and the significance of the current National Healthcare Agreement are reviewed. The author also discusses qualified privilege and statutory immunity, the national sentinel event program, and issues relevant to the coroner’s court. The role of the health services commission, current whistleblowers legislation, and governmental standards that apply to procurement and tendering processes in public hospitals are looked at. Lastly, the author briefly discusses the relevant law that relates to medical records.