Taking a patients Consent. is It Important?

The other day a session was conducted in which we watched a video on medical ethics. In this video, we saw a female patient coming in with her husband complaining of intense pain just below her right costal margin. After taking a detailed history, examination was done which revealed that the patient had an inflammed gallbladder and it was decided that she needed a laproscopic colicystectomy. The disturbing part of the video was when the doctor instead of explaining everything about the procedure and asking the patient if she is willing to get the procedure done, the doctor just gave the name of the procedure and TOLD the patient that you need to sign the consent form. Moreover when the patient tried to inquire if the procedure is safe or not, the junior doctors preparing the form snapped at her saying that why would
they recommend a procedure if it was harmful and not beneficial.

Now the question arises, is taking a patient's consent important? and if yes Why?

First of all lets see what is consent and what are the types of consents.

Consent refers to the provision of approval or agreement, particularly and especially after thoughtful consideration.

Types of consents include verbal and written consent. Example of a verbal consent is when you want to examine a patient like abdominal examination etc which is non invasive, then in that case you can take a verbal consent. Whereas in case of an invasive technique such as a surgery you need to take a written consent from the patient.

So do you think it is neccessary to take consent? Ofcourse it is, you need to take consent from the patient if he/she is capable of making there own decisions or you need to take the consent of the family in case the patient is not in the state to take his or her own decisions.

Coming on to what should be mentioned to the patient when taking consent? you as a doctor should make sure that the patient is aware of the risks, side effects, success rates and postoperative care and recovery period of the surgery. If there is a risk to the patient's life you must let the patient and the family know. Another thing that you must assure as a doctor is that, you have to sit down with the patient and there family and explain each and everything to them regarding the surgery and try your level best to come to the patient's level and explain.

Why is this necessary?  to keep it simple, it is the right of your patient to know everything about the procedure that will be done on them as this helps them reach a decision.

This leads us to the next important point that every doctor and future doctor much keep in mind  that, it is your job is to explain everything to the patient and tell them how important the procedure is for them, but after that you have to make sure that you withdraw all your influence and let the patient decide what he wants for him or herself. Because at the end of the day it will be there decision and no matter what they decide you have to respect it.

So the bottom line is that yes taking a consent is necessary and it should be taken properly giving the patient an opportunity to decide for themselves.