Surgical consent during the COVID-19 pandemic

Area of Science:

• Medical Practice
• Surgical Consent
• Informed Consent

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated adaptations in surgical practice, including operative and non-operative management.
• Guidelines recommend discussing COVID-19 risks during surgical consent.
• Patient-centered care requires clear communication of risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To audit and improve the documentation of COVID-19 risk discussion in surgical consent forms.
• To assess the impact of interventions on consenting practices.

Main Methods:

• A closed-loop audit of consent forms for emergency and elective surgeries was conducted.
• Interventions included education for surgical teams.
• Data were collected over one-week periods and analyzed using Chi-squared tests.

Main Results:

• Initial compliance with documenting COVID-19 risk discussion was low (35.3%).
• Following interventions, compliance significantly improved to 79.3% in cycle 2 and 73.3% in cycle 3.
• Improvements were sustained across subsequent audit cycles.

Conclusions:

• Pre-intervention consenting practices were inadequate regarding COVID-19 risk disclosure.
• Interventions, particularly wider surgical team education, led to significant and sustained improvements.
• Effective consenting practices are crucial for quality surgical care during health crises.