Transparent triage policies during the COVID-19 pandemic: a critical part of medico-legal risk management for clinicians

Close, Eliana and Willmott, Lindy and Cockburn, Tina and Young, Simon ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8835-7164 and Cairns, Will and White, Ben P. (2021) Transparent triage policies during the COVID-19 pandemic: a critical part of medico-legal risk management for clinicians. Medical Journal of Australia, 215 (2). 71-74.e1. ISSN 0025-729X

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Abstract

This article addresses the legal status of policy documents relied on by clinicians making resource allocation decisions in the context of public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. A lack of clear state-supported guidelines elevates risks for clinicians for the consequences of decisions that they have a professional duty to make in the interests of their community. The article argues that transparent triage policies are critical from a legal, as well as an ethical perspective.

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Item Type:	Article (Commonwealth Reporting Category C)
Refereed:	Yes
Item Status:	Live Archive
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Current - Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts - School of Law and Justice (1 Jul 2013 -)
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Current - Institute for Resilient Regions - Centre for Heritage and Culture (1 Aug 2018 -)
Date Deposited:	09 Dec 2021 01:18
Last Modified:	04 Apr 2022 08:05
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Australia; COVID-19; Guidelines as Topic; Health Personnel; Health Policy; Humans; Pandemics; Risk Management; Triage
Fields of Research (2008):	18 Law and Legal Studies > 1801 Law > 180126 Tort Law 18 Law and Legal Studies > 1801 Law > 180103 Administrative Law 11 Medical and Health Sciences > 1117 Public Health and Health Services > 111709 Health Care Administration
Fields of Research (2020):	42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420306 Health care administration 48 LAW AND LEGAL STUDIES > 4806 Private law and civil obligations > 480605 Tort law 48 LAW AND LEGAL STUDIES > 4807 Public law > 480701 Administrative law
Socio-Economic Objectives (2008):	C Society > 94 Law, Politics and Community Services > 9404 Justice and the Law > 940405 Law Reform C Society > 92 Health > 9202 Health and Support Services > 920208 Health Policy Evaluation C Society > 94 Law, Politics and Community Services > 9402 Government and Politics > 940204 Public Services Policy Advice and Analysis
Socio-Economic Objectives (2020):	23 LAW, POLITICS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES > 2302 Government and politics > 230204 Public services policy advice and analysis 23 LAW, POLITICS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES > 2304 Justice and the law > 230405 Law reform 20 HEALTH > 2002 Evaluation of health and support services > 200205 Health policy evaluation
Identification Number or DOI:	https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51079
URI:	http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/44197

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