Informed consent in oncology: Do we need it?

Palmer, Roxanne

doi:10.1016/s0936-6555(05)80032-9

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Consent to medical treatment is a developing doctrine and not a static set of rules 1 . Over the past two decades, The National Health Service has witnessed a shift in paradigm from traditional medical paternalism to patient autonomy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition the consent process will be critiqued in view of the ethical and legal principles governing the process. References will also be made to related studies conducted by other reserchers 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 . Consent modalities in terms of implied, oral and written will be examined in order to establish the role of written consent forms in radiotherapy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consent to medical treatment is a developing doctrine and not a static set of rules. 1 Over the past two decades, The National Health Service has witnessed a shift in paradigm from traditional medical paternalism to patient autonomy. This shift may be deemed a direct resultant of the Department of Health's mandate to create a health service that has all aspects of patient care as its primary foci; and in doing so provide patient-centred care.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The consent process in radiotherapy

Robinson

2007

J Radiother Pract

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Over the past two decades The Department of Health has made the consent process one of its main focus and has issued numerous guidelines on how the process must be conducted in order to make it valid. This mandate has been in accordance with the new patient-centred health service, which has patient autonomy as its fundamental standard. This paper will critically appraise the consent process in a radiotherapy department against the Department of Health’s recommendations. The ethical and legal principles governing the process will also be discussed using guidance from medical professional bodies and reference to English case law. Additionally, the function of written consent and consent forms will be assessed in order to establish whether implied or oral consent has any role in radiotherapy. The paper found that to a large extent the Department of Health’s recommendations are followed in the radiotherapy department evaluated. One key outcome arising from this paper is that written consent is the most appropriate form of consent in radiotherapy; however the record of consent should not be solely confined to a consent form. Rather it is critical that adequate notes of all areas of the dialogue that took place during the consent process with the patient should be written in the patient’s medical notes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The consent process in radiotherapy

Robinson

2007

J Radiother Pract

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“…Palmer of the Medical Protection Society in London reported that ‘… no consent case has ever turned on the presence or absence of a traditional form …’. He suggests that there is no single WCF that is sufficiently flexible to be of any use and that records of the consent process other than a WCF are required 4 . Written consent forms have many shortcomings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do written consent forms provide medicolegal protection from litigation in radiotherapy?

Christie

2004

Australasian Radiology

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Two methods were used in an attempt to determine whether written consent forms serve a useful medicolegal purpose in Australian radiotherapy departments. First a survey was posted to all practising radiation oncologists to ask about their use of written consent forms and whether they had ever been useful in any claims made against them. Second, the largest medical defence organization in Australia was contacted for de-identified details about every claim ever made against a radiation oncologist. The survey yielded a response rate of 50.3%. Only one respondent indicated that any consent form had ever played a role in any claim and was not prepared to discuss it. Many radiation oncologists did not routinely use a consent form and its use could not be considered standard practice. The submitted consent forms generally did not contain warnings to the patient about specific risks of treatment. The details of the previous claims provided by the medical defence organization indicated that more often claims arose from circumstances in which a written consent form could not provide any useful protection such as radiation dose calculation errors. The medicolegal value of written consent forms in radiotherapy seems low, although further research may be necessary before dispensing with them completely.

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“…The notes and correspondence detailing specifics discussed with individual patients remain important, but a standardized format of documenting consent may avoid or minimize omissions in documentation or the actual explanation for consent. Palmer may claim that no consent case has turned on the presence or absence of a consent form 3 . This is not the same as claiming that a well‐documented consent process has never successfully resulted in refuting a claim of failure to warn 4 , prevented a claim from proceeding or simply helped the doctor ensure that the patient understands that a serious risk is possible and have the patient accept that.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%