Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

If a doctor believes it would be prejudicial or injurious to the health of a patient, that doctor can direct that a sample not be taken. Having worked in accident and emergency departments for a number of years, my practical experience is that any patient who is seriously ill and requiring emergency treatment will have an intravenous line inserted either as a first or second step. It would be sent for analysis. Currently that blood sample cannot be used for testing because the examination must be done by a doctor using the chain of evidence.

It would rarely be the case in a hospital setting that taking a blood sample from somebody would injure or damage health. The only scenario where it might arise is when a person is having a cardiac or respiratory arrest and needs to be intubated or shocked. The last thing one would want in that case is somebody taking a blood sample but there is no reason that half an hour or an hour later the sample could not be taken.

However, it is important to point out that even if a sample is taken by a patient when he or she is in hospital or unconscious, it cannot be tested and used against him or her unless he or she consents to it.