Advance Medical Directive (regular reviews)

Question No: 167
Name of the Person: Mdm Halimah Yacob

To ask the Minister for Health (a) how many people have signed up for an Advance Medical Directive (AMD) and how many have revoked them since; and (b) whether there is a need to review the current rules on AMDs which do not require a person who has revoked the AMD to inform the Registrar, thus causing uncertainty for hospitals that wish to act on these AMDs.

Reply From MOH

1. More than 13,900 people have signed the Advance Medical Directives (AMDs). Over the years, 31 people have registered their revocations with the AMD Registry.

2. A person who has made an AMD may reconsider his decision and revoke his AMD. There may be situations where the revocation may need to be done quickly, e.g. before an urgent operation. Hence, the process of revocation is relatively simpler than making an AMD.

3. An AMD can be revoked at any time in the presence of at least one witness. The person can do so by filling in the standard form for revocation of an AMD. Alternatively, the person or his witness could write a letter to the Registrar of AMDs, stating the particulars of the person revoking the AMD and of the witness, and the time, date and place of revocation. If the person revoking the AMD is unable to write, the AMD can be revoked orally.

4. Under the AMD Act, there is a duty under section 7(2) for the revocation to be registered, and there is also a duty under section 7(3) and (4) for anyone with knowledge of the revocation to report this fact to the Registrar of AMDs.

5. The Act provides for additional checks before effecting an AMD. Under section 10(2) if the attending doctor has reasonable ground to believe that a revocation has been sent to the Registry or that the person has communicated to any medical practitioner his intention to revoke the directive, then the doctor will not proceed with the AMD.