Report No. 201

(F) No transfer before stabilization:

As proposed in section 7 of the Bill, where a person requests for a transfer, referred to in section 5(ii), but is in an emergency medical condition which has not stabilized, he should not be transferred if facilities for stabilization are available without following the procedure; unless

(a) the person, upon being informed of the obligations of the duty doctor or of the medical practitioner as stated in section 3 and of the risk of transfer, requests for transfer in writing without stabilization, to another medical facility, or

(b) the duty doctor in the hospital or the medical practitioner, as the case may be, has signed a certificate that, based upon information available at the time of transfer, the medical benefits reasonably expected from the provision of appropriate emergency medical treatment at another hospital or with another medical practitioner outweigh the increased risks to the person and in the case of a pregnant woman under labour, to the unborn child, of the effects of transfer, and unless the transfer is an 'appropriate transfer'.