... no general doctrine whereby a spouse or relative is empowered to give a legally effective consent to medical procedures to be carried out on an adult. There are circumstances where doctors are justified in proceeding without the consent of the patient. Tom was unconsciousness on arrival and was in critical condition where his injuries were life threatening. Tom is considered temporally incompetent because he was unconscious on arrival at the hospital. Therefore, he could not consent to treatment at the time of the accident. No one can consent on Tom's behalf because he is an adult; the authority for this is Re F (Mental Patient: Sterilisation) [1990]3. In this case, the House of Lords said no authorisation on one's behalf can be accepted regarding consent for an incompetent adult. Because Tom is unconscious and unable to give consent, then it is lawful at common law to give the patient treatment without ...

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