Trust Board Febuary 2010 - Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals

SWBTB (2/10) 037 (a)
Department of Health’s REFERENCE GUIDE TO CONSENT FOR EXAMINATION OR TREATMENT (Second edition,
Chapter 1, paragraph 47).
1.4 Guidance on consent
The Department of Health has issued a number of guidance documents on consent, and these should
be consulted for advice on the current law and good practice requirements in seeking consent.
Health professionals must also be aware of any guidance on consent issued by their own regulatory
bodies.
REFERENCE GUIDE TO CONSENT FOR EXAMINATION OR TREATMENT, SECOND EDITION 2009 provides a
comprehensive summary of the current law on consent, and includes requirements of regulatory
bodies such as the General Medical Council where these are more stringent. Copies are available
from the Risk Management Department and may also be accessed on the internet at
www.doh.gov.uk/consent.
Specific guidance, incorporating both the law and good practice advice, is available for health
professionals working with children, with people with learning disabilities and with older people.
Copies of these booklets are available via the Department of Health link on the Trust Homepage or
direct via the internet at www.doh.gov.uk/consent.
2 Objectives
1. To ensure that agreed procedures/processes are in place to obtain valid Consent.
2. To ensure effective processes for recording of consent.
3. To ensure staff who are not capable of performing the procedure but are authorised to obtain
consent receive suitable and sufficient training to take valid consent
4. To identify and deliver training requirements for staff in relation to consent.
5. To identify procedure specific training on consent for staff taking consent and who are not
capable of performing the procedure
6. To monitor the effectiveness of the Consent to Treatment Policy implementation
7. To ensure robust consent documentation is kept in the patient records
8. To ensure auditing of the consent process takes place on a regular basis, at least annually.
3 Scope
1. This policy applies to all staff involved in the consent process
2. This document relates to trust wide taking of consent including delegated consent and consent
taken in the patient’s best interests or where mental capacity issues are identified.
3. This policy covers processes for procedure specific training on consent for obtaining consent via
delegated methods.
4 Definitions
Consent
Consent is the voluntary and continuing permission of the person to the intervention in question,
based on an adequate knowledge of the purpose, likely effects and risks of that intervention,
2