Form 15 (British Columbia - Nomination of Near Relative)

Form 15 (British Columbia - Nomination of Near Relative)

Form 15 (British Columbia - Nomination of Near Relative)

Primer

A Form 15 (Nomination of Near Relative), is a form under the British Columbia Mental Health Act that allows a patient to nominate someone to receive notice of the their admission, discharge and any application they make to the review panel. Once nominated, the near relative is notified of the patients admission using a Form 16.

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Nomination and Notification

When Must a Near Relative be Notified?

The Form 15 provides you with the consent (using either patient or director nomination) to release these following forms:

When a patient is involuntarily admitted to a designated facility (Form 16)
When a patient is discharged (Form 17)
When a patient applies for a Review Panel hearing (Form 18)

Process

On admission, the patient nominates the “near relative” who they wish to be notified via Form 15, Nomination of Near Relative.
The director or delegate (this could be physician, medical resident, nurse, social worker, occupational therapist or administrative support depending on the hospital's specific procedure) completes and sends Form 16 (Notification to Near Relative) through hand-delivery or registered mail.
In addition to the person nominated by the patient, the director may (if the director considers it to be in the best interests of the patient or the safety of others) send the notice to any other near relative.

Form 15 is Not Consent for Release of Information!

Nomination of Near Relative is not the same as consent for release of information. Please refer to your specific Health Authorities' Policies and Guidelines for directions on releasing patient information. You must obtain consent through a Release of Information directly from your patient to share any clinical information (such as diagnoses or treatment plan) with those who are nominated.

Near Relative

The BC Mental Health Act defines a near relative as a person “designated by a patient” and includes a person’s grandparent, parent, child, spouse, sibling, half sibling, friend, companion, caregiver, legal guardian, representative under a representation agreement or committee of the person under the Patients Property Act.
- While not mentioned in the Act, common law spouse and same sex partner are included as near relatives.
Since the near relative is defined as a person “designated by a patient,” the patient must be provided with an opportunity to nominate a near relative using a Form 15 first
Thus a Form 15 must be completed first prior to completing the Form 16.

No Relatives

If a patient declines to nominate a relative, hospital staff must document that fact on the Form 15, and the director must then choose a relative to notify.
- A near relative must still be notified even if the patient declines.
If there is no known near relative is identified or there are concerns about notification to a relative, Section 34.2 of the BC Mental Health Act states: “If the director or chair has no information about the identity of the patient's near relatives, this section is sufficiently complied with if the notice is sent to the Public Guardian and Trustee.”
- Thus, the obligation to provide notice is lifted by sending a Form 16 (Notification to Near Relative) to the Public Guardian and Trustee.^[1]

¹⁾ Office of the Ombudsperson Province of British Columbia: Committed to Change: Protecting the Rights of Involuntary Patients under the Mental Health Act

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