Kovic Ž, Kobua M, Fogarty M, Donohoe CL, Kelly ME, Fitzmaurice GJ, Fitzgerald M, Zambra P, Geary U, Ward ME. Valid consent in the acute hospital setting: perspectives of patients and members of the public.
Ir J Med Sci 2024:10.1007/s11845-024-03658-w. [PMID:
38578384 DOI:
10.1007/s11845-024-03658-w]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
People who interact with healthcare services have an ethical and legal right to control their own lives, to make informed decisions, and to consent to what happens to them. For consent to be considered ethically and legally valid, three key criteria must be met: consent must be given voluntarily; people must be sufficiently informed of all options; and people should have capacity to make the decision to give or withhold their consent.
AIM
This study set out to explore, through the use of surveys, the perspectives of patients and public in relation to consent.
METHOD
Surveys were developed for patients and the public and administered paper based (patients) and through social media (public).
RESULTS
One hundred and forty surveys were posted to patients, with a 38% response rate; 104 responses were received from the public. Ninety-six percent of patients were satisfied that the decision they made was informed; 100% felt they had made a voluntary decision; 98% felt the clinician seemed knowledgeable about the procedure. What matters most to the public were being informed about the risks associated with the proposed procedure and being assured that whatever choice they make they will receive the best care possible.
CONCLUSIONS
The results highlight interesting similarities and differences in relation to consent between members of the public thinking about a possible treatment, surgery, or procedure and those patients who have actually been through the process in the past 12 months. Recommendations have been developed on the basis of these findings to co-design improvements in consent practices.
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