Trust Board Febuary 2010 - Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals

SWBTB (2/10) 037 (a)
authorised to obtain consent. Such authority is generally gained through training and assessment in
line with this policy. This means the staff member will be able successfully to explain the risks and
benefits of and alternatives to the procedure being undertaken. This staff member may be a junior
doctor or other health care professional.
Advance Decisions
Patients may have a ‘living will’ or ‘advance directive’ specifying how they would like to be treated in
the case of future incapacity. Professionals cannot be required by such directives to provide
particular treatments (which might be inappropriate). An advance refusal of treatment will be legally
binding for a patient who now lacks capacity if made voluntarily by an appropriately informed person
with capacity when made. An advance decision to refuse potentially life-saving treatment must be in
writing and be witnessed.
5 Roles and Responsibilities
5.1 Medical Director
The Medical Director is responsible for ensuring a robust system for the taking of consent and for
monitoring the effectiveness of the system is in place across the Trust.
The Medical Director is required, under the conditions of vicarious liability for the Trust, to be
satisfied that where health care professionals either take consent or take on new roles or tasks such
as delegated consent that the process is robust and staff are competent to carry out their roles.
The Medical Director will ensure the policy is enforced in respect of any failures in compliance which
are escalated to him/her.
5.2 Consultant
The Consultant carrying out the procedure is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the patient is
genuinely consenting to what is being done. It is they who will be held responsible in law if they are
challenged later. (GOOD PRACTICE IN CONSENT IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE: CONSENT TO EXAMINATION OR
TREATMENT DOH NOVEMBER 2001). Where delegated consent is undertaken the Consultant(s) remain
responsible for the consent processes.
The Consultant will take part in identifying the training, supervision and review of staff taking part in
the delegated consent process. (see Appendix G1).
The Consultant must ensure that anyone taking delegated consent for a patient under their care:
• Follows the processes in this policy for taking and recording consent
• Has sufficient knowledge of the investigation or procedure and has an understanding of the
risks involved,
• Has the ability verbally to provide information that the patient asks about or needs to know
about their condition, its treatment and prognosis, including any future effects on the
patient’s lifestyle,
• Has knowledge about alternatives to the proposed treatment, frequency of adverse effects,
their seriousness and effectiveness compared to the treatment being proposed,
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