Informed consent for medical procedures.

1. Informed Consent
Speaker
Dr. Abhinav Prakash Arya
Department of General Surgery
AIIMS, Deoghar

2. Informed Consent
• Informed consent must be in written form and documented with
patients' signature and date of consent.

3. Consent means?
Patient voluntarily confirms his/her willing participation in an operation

4. Informed about?
All the aspects of the operation/procedure that is its
• Benefits
• Prognosis and
• Complications

5. Legality
• Autonomy: patients have to make decisions according to their beliefs
or preference
• Competence: ability or capacity to make specific decision for oneself
• Battery: application of force to a person’s body without consent
• Negligence: Failure in duty of care

6. Components of Informed Consent
1. Competence
2. Disclosure
3. Understanding
4. Voluntariness
5. Consent

7. Capacity to Consent
• To give informed consent, a person must have the capacity to
understand and communicate what they are agreeing to.
• People who lack capacity:
1. Children (<16yr)
2. Mentally Incapable
3. Living Will
4. Emergency Situations

8. Checklist
1. Name of operation
2. Nature of proposed treatment
3. What the operation involves
4. Other treatment options or alternatives
5. Potential complications
6. Risks of operation
7. Risks of no treatment

9. Modes of Consent
1. Implied Consent
2. Express written consent
3. Express verbal consent

10. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
1. Emergencies
Treatment can be provided without consent where where delay in
treatment would lead to serious harm or death
NB: However, you must respect any valid advance refusals that you
know about or are drawn to your attention.

11. 2. Mentally Incapable Patients
• Assess patient’s competence to make an informed decision.
• If unable to decide, and provided they comply, treatment may be instigated
that is judged to be in their best interest.
3. Advanced Statements/ Living Will
• A/S made by patients before loosing their capacity of informed consent must
be respected.

12. 4. Children
• Under 16 – Parents or Guardians would see at the best of interest of
the child
• Over 16 – regarded as young adults and have capacity to decide
• Unlike adults if competent child refuses treatment , a person with
parental responsibility or a court may authorize treatment deemed in
the child’s best of interest
5. Pregnancy
• Right to autonomy
• Right to refuse treatment that is intended to benefit the unborn child.

13. Consequences of failure to obtain valid consent
• Treatment without consent = BATTERY
• (Including No consent or WRONG procedure)
• Treatment with poor or invalid consent = NEGLIGENCE

14. Thank You
abhinav.generalsurgery@aiimsdeoghar.edu.in