Informed consent for elective surgery—what is best practice?

Abstract

Increasing medico-legal litigation,1 and the desire to provide patients with more say concerning their own treatment, has highlighted the issue of informed consent and how it is obtained. In order for a patient to make a sensible decision concerning his or her treatment they need appropriate information. This may occur via discussions with medical/nursing staff, via the media/internet, or from speaking with friends who have undergone a similar procedure. However, it chiefly occurs during the acquisition of informed consent, during which the risks and