Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether patients and their families are entitled to receive copies of consent forms they have signed.

Jane Ellison

It is a general legal and ethical principle that valid consent must be obtained from an individual before starting a treatment or physical intervention. For consent to be valid it must be given voluntarily by an appropriately informed person who has the capacity to consent to the intervention in question.

It is the responsibility of the doctor undertaking the treatment or investigation to ensure that they (or someone they delegate) obtain valid consent. The key elements of the discussion with the patient, including any specific requests by the patient, should be properly recorded in a person’s medical record or in a consent form. This might include that a copy of a consent form has been requested by, or given to, the patient or to their family should the patient agree to that.

The General Medical Council’s professional guidance on obtaining and recording consent, Consent: patients and doctors making decisions together , can be found at:

www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethical_guidance/consent_guidance_index.asp

Other sources of guidance for healthcare professionals on obtaining consent include the Department’s Reference guide to consent for examination or treatment (Second Edition) which can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/138296/dh_103653__1_.pdf

and the British Medical Association’s consent toolkit which can be found at:

http://bma.org.uk/practical-support-at-work/ethics/consent