Consent to treatment is the principle that a person must give permission before they receive any type of medical treatment, test or examination and is generally requested on the basis that an explanation of the required treatment, test or procedure has been received from a Clinician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consent from a patient is needed regardless of the procedure, whether it’s a physical examination, organ <\/a>donation <\/strong>or something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The principle of consent is an important part of medical ethics and international human rights law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For consent to be valid, it must be voluntary and informed, and the person consenting must have the capacity to make the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These terms are explained below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If an adult has the capacity to make a voluntary and informed decision to consent to or refuse a particular treatment, their decision must be respected.This is still the case even if refusing treatment would result in their death, or the death of their unborn child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a person doesn’t have the capacity to make a decision about their treatment, the Healthcare Professionals treating them can go ahead and give treatment if they believe it’s in the person’s best interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clinicians must however take reasonable steps to seek advice from the patient\u2019s friends or relatives before making these decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read more about assessing the capacity to consent.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Consent can be given:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Someone could also give non-verbal consent, as long as they understand the treatment or examination about to take place \u2013 for example, holding out an arm for a blood test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consent should be given to the Healthcare Professional directly responsible for the person’s current treatment, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If someone is going to have a major medical procedure such as an operation, their consent should ideally be secured plenty of time in advance, so that they have time to obtain information about the procedure and ask questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a patient changes their mind at any point before the procedure, they are entitled to withdraw their previous consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If they’re able to, consent is usually given by patients themselves. However, someone with parental responsibility may need to give consent for a child up to the age of 16 to have treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDefining consent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How consent is given<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Consent from children and young people<\/h2>\n\n\n\n