Increasing importance of truly informed consent: the role of written patient information

Abstract

Complaints to the General Medical Council (GMC) and litigation against doctors are currently rising at an alarming rate, with an increase of 23% from 7153 in 2010 to 8781 in 2011 [1]. This equates to a 1:64 chance of the GMC investigating any individual doctor. Of all the causes of dissatisfaction among patients, one of the most common is the feeling that they ‘were not told’ that a particular outcome might result from a given treatment. Sometimes even the fact that the individual has signed a consent form, which specifies the resultant effect, is inadequate defence; because the patient may justifiably claim that the explanation was rushed, or provided in such a way that they were unable to understand the full implications of the treatment. This is particularly true for the rarer but more life-threatening complications.