AlphaMED Resources · https://alphamedicine.uk/Resources/glossary/consent

Informed consent

Informed consent is a patient's agreement to a treatment, given freely, with capacity, and with the information they need.

Updated 12 October 2026 (1 minute read)

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 material risk, meaning a risk that a reasonable person in the patient's position would be likely to attach significance to.
  • A patient can withdraw consent at any time.
  • Treating a patient who has capacity without their consent can be a criminal offence.

In practice

  • In Montgomery, the Supreme Court held that a doctor should have warned Mrs Montgomery of the risk of shoulder dystocia, a complication in which the baby's shoulders get stuck during birth.
  • The court found that she would probably have chosen a caesarean had the risk been explained.
  • In the infected blood scandal, patients were not warned of the risks of their treatment, and some were tested for HIV without their knowledge.

In Hong Kong

  • Under the Medical Council of Hong Kong's code, consent is valid only if it is given voluntarily, the doctor has explained the nature, effect and risks of the treatment and the other options, and the patient properly understands them (section 2.7).
  • The other options include having no treatment at all.
  • The explanation should cover risks with serious consequences even when they are unlikely (section 2.10.3).

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?

Sources

  1. The National Archives, case lawcaselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/…/press-summary
  2. Medical Council of Hong Kongmchk.org.hk/…/Code_of_Professional_Conduct_%28English_Version%29_%28Revise

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Cases that turn on it

Weight loss drugs for children Autonomy Weight loss injections such as Wegovy are licensed in the UK from the age of 12, and drug companies are testing them in children as young as six. On 7 October 2026 the World Health Organization said it does not recommend any obesity medicine for a child under 10. It said too little is known about what the drugs do to a growing body. Self swab DNA kits and the advert ban Autonomy A non profit called Enough gives university students kits to swab themselves for an attacker's DNA after a sexual assault. Doctors and police say a court may refuse a home swab. On 20 May 2026 the advertising regulator banned adverts that said the evidence could be used in court. AI designed coronavirus vaccine trial Autonomy Scientists at Cambridge used machine learning to design one vaccine meant to protect against a whole family of coronaviruses. A first trial in 39 healthy volunteers found it safe. Cambridge said in June 2026 that the technology could prevent pandemics, though the trial was never meant to show whether the vaccine works. Infected blood scandal Autonomy More than 30,000 NHS patients caught HIV or hepatitis C from their treatment in the 1970s and 1980s. A public inquiry reported in 2024, compensation payments began that December, and no one has been prosecuted.

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.