WHY IS CONSENT IMPORTANT?
A patient
cannot receive medical treatment without consent. People over 16 years of
age can legally consent to treatment if they are capable of understanding the
nature and effect of the proposed treatment. Consent must be both informed
and effective. To be informed, a person must be given information about
the procedure relevant to the individual situation. To be effective, the
person should be able to demonstrate in his or her own words understanding of
the proposed treatment. Merely asking the person if they understand and
receiving a 'yes' or nod in response is generally insufficient. Where any
doubt relating to a person's mental capacity exists, the practitioner should
consult with the person's family or carers.
Documents
giving information about consent are listed below. They cover various
situations in which consent is necessary.
Forms for
use when requesting "one-off" consent from the Guardianship Board can
be found under Publications link on the left.