AlphaMED Resources · https://alphamedicine.uk/Resources/consent
Informed consent
Informed consent is a patient's agreement to a treatment, given freely, with capacity, and with the information they need.
Summary
- Consent has to be voluntary, so pressure from doctors or family undermines it.
- Since the Montgomery case in 2015, doctors must tell patients about any risk that a reasonable person in their position would want to know.
- A patient can withdraw consent at any time.
- Treating a patient who has capacity without their consent can be a criminal offence.
Interview questions
- What makes consent valid?
- How much should a doctor tell a patient about the risks of an operation?
- A patient signs the consent form but clearly has not understood. What do you do?
Practise answering these with a mentor
Our interview preparation has you answer questions like these out loud, with feedback on each answer.
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More NHS hot topics, medical ethics case studies and medical school interview questions are in AlphaMED Resources, which we add to and update through the application cycle.