how old do you have to be to go doctors on ur own?

Question

im in the uk an i wanna go doctors on my own how old do u have to be to go there without parents? im 15 by the way xxx

Answer 1

going to see the doctor at 15 is no problem, the advice or treatment may need your parents permission though

Answer 2

It depends where in the UK that you live.
I'm in Scotland and here you can go to the doctor's alone at 15 and anything discussed will be private and confidential between you and the doctor (meaning, the doc is not allowed to tell your mum or dad what you've discussed).
If you're elsewhere in the UK, as far as I know, you can still attend the doctor by yourself but as you're under 16 the confidentiality rule does not apply, meaning that if the doctor feels it's in your best interests, they can speak to your parents about whatever it is tyou're seeing the doctor for.

Answer 3

The only real help which I have been able to find as far as 15 year olds are concerned is in the following link http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/7/2/150
which you will probably not want to wade through. There was a famous case a few years ago brought by a Mrs Victoria Gillick, who was disturbed by the idea of her daughter of about your age going to the doctor and being given contraceptive advice without her being aware of it and the following material refers to this landmark case. I am not, of course, suggesting that this is the reason why you want to go to the doctor on your own. Once you are sixteen, there is no question about your being allowed to seek medical help without reference to your patents.

"The competence of a young person under the age of 16 years is considered in light of the Gillick decision. As is well known, this case examined the circumstances in which it would be lawful to give contraceptive advice to a young person under the age of 16 years without the parents' permission. In his judgment Lord Scarman said:
"the parental right to determine whether or not their minor child below the age of sixteen will have medical treatment terminates if and when the child achieves a sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable him or her to understand fully what is proposed" (Gillick v. West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority, 1986).
This ruling gives under-16-year-olds with sufficient understanding (‘Gillick competent') an independent right to consent to treatment. However, even with a Gillick-competent young person (under the age of 16) it is good practice also to seek consent from a person with parental responsibility. In his ruling in the Gillick case, Lord Fraser set out five preconditions that would justify a doctor prescribing contraceptives to a young woman under the age of 16 years without her parents' consent. These are summarised as follows:
1.that the girl would understand the clinician's advice;
2.that the clinician cannot persuade her to tell her parents or to allow him to tell them that she is seeking contraceptive advice;
3.that she is very likely to begin or continue to have sexual intercourse with or without contraceptive treatment;
4.that unless she receives contraceptive advice or treatment her physical and mental health or both are likely to suffer;
5.that her best interests require the clinician to give her contraceptive advice, treatment or both without parental consent."

What this boils down to is, if the doctor considers that you are competent to take decisions regarding your own health, then he will not in all probability refer matters back to your parents unless there were some bigger issue at stake.

I think that it remains the case, however, that if you were to need a surgical operation, your parents would have to agree to it because you are still a minor.