Enabling patients to make informed decisions

Article Abstract:

Patients should be allowed to make informed decisions when required to give their consent to invasive treatment or surgery, with doctors mainly seeking a patient's written consent as a means of avoiding litigation rather than out of a sense of moral obligation. Patients are usually given little information before giving their consent and their right to autonomy is ignored. Doctors are not legally required to give a patient details of every potential risk involved, and consent is not necessary if a patient is mentally incapable of giving consent as long as the doctor acts in the patient's best interests.

Medical ethics

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Assessing the capacity to give consent

Article Abstract:

Health care workers working with the learning disabled investigated the development of a functional approach to assessing consent. Experts have generally considered that treatment of learning disabled people unable to give consent is legal in the UK, providing the patient does not dissent, but the area needs more research. The investigation, which involved interviews with learning disabled clients, indicated various categories of consent including valid consent, compliancy with inability to give consent, non-compliancy with inability to give consent, and valid non-consent.

Care and treatment, Laws, regulations and rules, Medical care, Mentally disabled persons

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Organ procurement: pitfalls and pathways

Article Abstract:

A change in the method of traditional organ procurement could drastically increase the number of organs available for transplant. Research into procurement methods found donor consent was the most important aspect of obtaining organs. A survey showed 93% of those questioned claimed they would donate a kidney if it was needed by a close relative, while 81% felt they would be happy to be asked about donating an organ during time in hospital. More research needs to be undertaken to discover the best method of organ procurement for the UK public.

Donation of organs, tissues, etc., Tissue donation, Organ donors, Tissue donors

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