Mary Donnelly
Biographic Data
| ID | 4432002 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mary Donnelly |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mary |
| FAMILY NAME | Donnelly |
| SIGNATURE | DONNELLY M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University College Cork |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7612-9722 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Is capacity to consent to healthcare a uniformly defined concept? Insights from a document analysis of laws and national guidelines across six European countries
BACKGROUND: Capacity to consent or decision-making capacity to healthcare is a key prerequisite for a valid informed consent. A clear understanding of this concept is important to protect patients' autonomy. Without it, clinical assessments may vary, jeopardising patients' participation in decisions about their care and increasing the risk of delayed, denied or harmful treatment. Despite substantial international debate and reforms concerning nor…
Lived Experiences of Pregnancy Loss at Work
There is increased focus on pregnancy loss at work over recent years, with many countries introducing or exploring the introduction of statutory leave for pregnancies that end pre‐“viability.” Individual organizations are also introducing their own pregnancy loss policies. However, academic focus on early pregnancy loss at work has lagged behind political discourse and organizational developments. Through analysis of qualitative data from a mixed…
Providing abortion care
Abortion care in Ireland is heavily regulated when compared with other forms of healthcare and the decisions that providers make in navigating this environment have an important impact on access to abortion care. This article explores the regulatory framework from a provider perspective, analysing the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 and other regulatory elements including the Medical Council Guide to Professional Conduct …
Consent to testing for brain death
Canada has recently published a new Clinical Practice Guideline on the diagnosis and management of brain death. It states that consent is not necessary to carry out the interventions required to make the diagnosis. A supporting article not only sets out the arguments for this but also contends that ‘UK laws similarly carve out an exception, excusing clinicians from a prima facie duty to get consent’. This is supplemented by the claim that recent …
Courts, rights and the critically brain-injured patient
The reality of current clinical practice in the UK is that where a patient’s family refuses to agree to testing for brain stem death (BD), such cases will ultimately end up in court. This situation is true of both adults and children and reinforced by recent legal cases. While recourse to the courts might be regrettable in such tragic cases, if public trust in the medical diagnosis of BD is to be maintained all aspects of the process must be cond…
Informed consent for capacity assessment
Comparing mental health and mental capacity law data across borders
The island of Ireland is partitioned into Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In both jurisdictions, there have been important developments in mental health and mental capacity law, and associated policies and services. This includes an emphasis on developing more comprehensive approaches to collecting data on outcomes and so there is an opportunity to align these processes to enable comparison and shared learning across the border. Thi…
Disputing death
Death by neurological criteria (DNC) has remained controversial since its introduction over 50 years ago. Objections to the diagnosis of DNC have been coming before the courts in various jurisdictions, including at least seven recent challenges before the UK courts. In responding to these challenges, the UK courts have expressed no doubts as to the status of DNC and have affirmed that following a diagnosis of DNC, the matter of best interests is …
Routledge Handbook of Mental Health Law
Competence or mental capacity refers to the ability to make responsible and balanced decisions. It is linked to the ethical principle of autonomy and to a collaborative and supporting doctor-patient relationship, far from the ancient paternalistic model. Mental capacity can be evaluated in clinical settings (decision making to consent to treatment or research), for the autonomy in daily life activities (financial matters, contracts), and in crimi…
Mental health, mental capacity, ethics, and the law in the context of Covid-19 (coronavirus)
Ethical and Legal Debates in Irish Healthcare
Victims of crime with disabilities in Ireland
In recent decades, criminal justice systems are, at least partially, being reconstructed as they demonstrate an increased sensitivity to the needs and concerns of victims of crime. As part of this, a new cultural theme of the victim as ‘Everyman’ is emerging. However, these generalizing tendencies conceal the multiplicity of experiences of victimhood and of interactions with the criminal justice system. As a result, certain categories of victim a…
Participation in Healthcare
Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the child's right to be heard and to be involved in decisions made about him/her. Effective implementation of the provision can have a lasting impact on children's lives but it presents challenges, especially in areas like healthcare where the dynamics and pressures of the healthcare setting and the role of parents influence proceedings. Research involving children shows that th…
Participation in Healthcare
Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the child's right to be heard and to be involved in decisions made about him/her. Effective implementation of the provision can have a lasting impact on children's lives but it presents challenges, especially in areas like healthcare where the dynamics and pressures of the healthcare setting and the role of parents influence proceedings. Research involving children shows that th…
Victims of crime with disabilities in Ireland
In recent decades, criminal justice systems are, at least partially, being reconstructed as they demonstrate an increased sensitivity to the needs and concerns of victims of crime. As part of this, a new cultural theme of the victim as ‘Everyman’ is emerging. However, these generalizing tendencies conceal the multiplicity of experiences of victimhood and of interactions with the criminal justice system. As a result, certain categories of victim a…
Providing abortion care
Abortion care in Ireland is heavily regulated when compared with other forms of healthcare and the decisions that providers make in navigating this environment have an important impact on access to abortion care. This article explores the regulatory framework from a provider perspective, analysing the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 and other regulatory elements including the Medical Council Guide to Professional Conduct …
Participation in Healthcare
Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the child's right to be heard and to be involved in decisions made about him/her. Effective implementation of the provision can have a lasting impact on children's lives but it presents challenges, especially in areas like healthcare where the dynamics and pressures of the healthcare setting and the role of parents influence proceedings. Research involving children shows that th…
Victims of crime with disabilities in Ireland
In recent decades, criminal justice systems are, at least partially, being reconstructed as they demonstrate an increased sensitivity to the needs and concerns of victims of crime. As part of this, a new cultural theme of the victim as ‘Everyman’ is emerging. However, these generalizing tendencies conceal the multiplicity of experiences of victimhood and of interactions with the criminal justice system. As a result, certain categories of victim a…
Ethical and Legal Debates in Irish Healthcare
Mental health, mental capacity, ethics, and the law in the context of Covid-19 (coronavirus)
Disputing death
Death by neurological criteria (DNC) has remained controversial since its introduction over 50 years ago. Objections to the diagnosis of DNC have been coming before the courts in various jurisdictions, including at least seven recent challenges before the UK courts. In responding to these challenges, the UK courts have expressed no doubts as to the status of DNC and have affirmed that following a diagnosis of DNC, the matter of best interests is …
Routledge Handbook of Mental Health Law
Competence or mental capacity refers to the ability to make responsible and balanced decisions. It is linked to the ethical principle of autonomy and to a collaborative and supporting doctor-patient relationship, far from the ancient paternalistic model. Mental capacity can be evaluated in clinical settings (decision making to consent to treatment or research), for the autonomy in daily life activities (financial matters, contracts), and in crimi…
Consent to testing for brain death
Canada has recently published a new Clinical Practice Guideline on the diagnosis and management of brain death. It states that consent is not necessary to carry out the interventions required to make the diagnosis. A supporting article not only sets out the arguments for this but also contends that ‘UK laws similarly carve out an exception, excusing clinicians from a prima facie duty to get consent’. This is supplemented by the claim that recent …
Courts, rights and the critically brain-injured patient
The reality of current clinical practice in the UK is that where a patient’s family refuses to agree to testing for brain stem death (BD), such cases will ultimately end up in court. This situation is true of both adults and children and reinforced by recent legal cases. While recourse to the courts might be regrettable in such tragic cases, if public trust in the medical diagnosis of BD is to be maintained all aspects of the process must be cond…
Informed consent for capacity assessment
Comparing mental health and mental capacity law data across borders
The island of Ireland is partitioned into Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In both jurisdictions, there have been important developments in mental health and mental capacity law, and associated policies and services. This includes an emphasis on developing more comprehensive approaches to collecting data on outcomes and so there is an opportunity to align these processes to enable comparison and shared learning across the border. Thi…
Providing abortion care
Abortion care in Ireland is heavily regulated when compared with other forms of healthcare and the decisions that providers make in navigating this environment have an important impact on access to abortion care. This article explores the regulatory framework from a provider perspective, analysing the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 and other regulatory elements including the Medical Council Guide to Professional Conduct …
Is capacity to consent to healthcare a uniformly defined concept? Insights from a document analysis of laws and national guidelines across six European countries
BACKGROUND: Capacity to consent or decision-making capacity to healthcare is a key prerequisite for a valid informed consent. A clear understanding of this concept is important to protect patients' autonomy. Without it, clinical assessments may vary, jeopardising patients' participation in decisions about their care and increasing the risk of delayed, denied or harmful treatment. Despite substantial international debate and reforms concerning nor…
Lived Experiences of Pregnancy Loss at Work
There is increased focus on pregnancy loss at work over recent years, with many countries introducing or exploring the introduction of statutory leave for pregnancies that end pre‐“viability.” Individual organizations are also introducing their own pregnancy loss policies. However, academic focus on early pregnancy loss at work has lagged behind political discourse and organizational developments. Through analysis of qualitative data from a mixed…
Political science (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints (5 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare (4 works) · Health care (3 works) · Informed consent (3 works)