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The new consent form: is it any better?
Talal Ibrahim1, Shong Meng Ong, Grahame John Saint Clair Taylor
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester, UK. talal_ibrahim@hotmail.com
Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
|May 14, 2004
Summary
The new UK National Health Service (NHS) consent form improved patient understanding of surgical benefits and complications. However, overall consent quality did not significantly increase compared to the old form.
Area of Science:
- Medical Law and Ethics
- Patient Safety
- Informed Consent Procedures
Background:
- The UK Department of Health (DoH) implemented a new consent form in the National Health Service (NHS) in April 2002.
- This change followed the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry, highlighting the need for improved patient consent processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of the new NHS consent form.
- To compare the quality of patient consent using the new form versus the previous version.
Main Methods:
- A questionnaire with 11 questions was administered to 200 patients (100 before, 100 after the new form's introduction).
- The study was conducted in the pre-assessment clinic at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester.
- Data collection occurred before and after the new consent form was adopted.
Main Results:
- The new consent form significantly improved patient understanding of surgical success, benefits, and potential complications.
- Patients reported better information received about operations from doctors and nurses with the new form.
- Despite improvements in specific areas, the overall assessment of consent quality did not show a statistically significant difference between the old and new forms.
Conclusions:
- The revised consent form enhanced certain aspects of patient understanding but did not achieve ideal consent standards across all measures.
- Recommendations include utilizing a formatted consent form combined with supplementary patient information.
- Further improvements in consent processes are suggested to reach the 100% ideal standard.