Consent
Where
possible, a clinician must be satisfied that a patient understands
and consents to a proposed treatment or investigation. This will include
the nature, purpose, and risks of the procedure, if necessary by the
use of drawings, interpreters, videos or other means to ensure that
the patient understands, and has enough information to make an "informed
choice".
Implied
Consent
Implied
consent will be assumed for many routine physical contacts with patients.
Expressed
Consent
Expressed
consent (written or verbal) should be obtained for any procedure which
carries a risk that the patient is likely to consider as being substantial.
A note will be made in the medical record detailing the discussion
about the consent and the risks. A Consent Form may be used for the
patient to express consent - there is a draft Consent Form
in the Patient & Community Services index of the Members
Library - 
. If
you are not a Member,
have a look at the information about the benefits of membership and how to subscribe -
Obtaining
Consent
Consent
(Implied or Expressed) should be obtained prior to any treatment or
procedure, and prior to any form of sedation. The clinician should
ensure that the patient is competent to provide a consent (16 years
or over) or has "Gillick Competence"
if under 16 years. Consent will include the provision of all information
relevant to the treatment.
A patient
may refuse consent, delay the consent, seek further information, limit
the consent, or ask for a chaperone
Consent
for children
Everyone
aged 16 or more is presumed to be competent to give consent for themselves,
unless the opposite is demonstrated. If a child under the age of 16
has "sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable him/her
to understand fully what is proposed" (known as Gillick Competence),
then he/she will be competent to give consent for him/herself.
For children
under 16 (except for those who have Gillick Competence as noted above),
someone with parental responsibility should give consent on the child's
behalf.
There
is a Consent Protocol and a Consent Form
in the Patient & Community Services index of the Members
Library - . If
you are not a Member,
have a look at the information about the benefits of membership and how to subscribe -
Further
information
BMA
Consent Toolkit -
Consent
forms (DoH draft examples) -
Consent
forms in a range of languages -
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