In 2017, the Norwegian Parliament adopted amendments to the Patients’ and Users’ Rights Act, allowing healthcare professionals to withhold information from children under the age of 12 when there are compelling reasons for doing so.
The knowledge gathered by ChangeFactory from children shows that one of the main reasons children do not tell health services about the things they struggle with most is that they do not know who will be told what they have shared. That is why the young people celebrated when this amendment to the law was proposed and later adopted.
The change in the law
§3-4 Information when the patient or service user is under 18 years of age
If the patient or service user is under 16 years of age, both the patient or service user and the parents or others with parental responsibility shall be provided with information.
If the patient or service user is between 12 and 16 years of age, information shall not be provided to the parents or others with parental responsibility if the patient or service user, for reasons that should be respected, does not wish this.
Regardless of the age of the patient or service user, information shall not be provided to the parents or others with parental responsibility if compelling considerations relating to the patient or service user weigh against doing so.