Commentary on Sections Part 17 – Patient Representation Chapter 1: named persons Named person where no person nominated or nominated person declines to act
477.Where no named person is nominated under section 250, or the nominated person declines to act, section 251 determines who is to be the named person for a patient who is 16 or over.
478.Subsection (1) provides that the patient’s primary carer, if aged 16 or over, is to be the named person. (The primary carer is defined in section 329).
479.Where the primary carer is under 16, but another carer is 16 or over, that carer is the named person (subsection (2)).
480.Where a patient has no primary carer, but has two or more carers of at least 16, those carers may agree which of them is to be the named person (subsection (3)(a)). Where the primary carer is under 16, but there are two or more carers aged 16 or over, those carers may agree which of them is to be the named person (subsection (3)(b)).
481.A named person may decline to act by giving notice in accordance with subsection (6).
482.Where a patient does not have a named person (or if the named person declines) the nearest relative, as defined in section 254, is to be the named person.