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Care Opinion

Patients are able to make up their own minds.

Posted By PatientZ

"Patients are able to make up their own minds."

About: Croydon University Hospital / General surgery

(as the patient),

Having previously agreed to having minor surgery with a local anaesthetic, during the pre-surgery appointment with the consultant, I feel they later attempted to obtain consent for a general anaesthetic. The consultant suggested postponing the surgery to 'give me time to think about it', but the surgery went ahead as previously discussed. I felt that the consultant also attempted to persuade me to agree to sedation and feel that they found it extremely difficult to take no for an answer.

I had my wits about me, as well as a relative with me to help me state my case, and also act as a witness as to what was discussed, agreed, not agreed and signed. The consent form appeared to only consist of only 'yes' tick-boxes with nowhere to tick 'no'. I was concerned that there was nothing stopping boxes being ticked after the form had been signed and that no copy of the paperwork was offered to me.

This was a great shame, as the rest of the staff in the hospital were absolutely brilliant - they were helpful, kind and caring at all times. I think perhaps the consultant at Day Surgery had difficulty understanding that patients quite often are able to make up their own minds in this day and age.

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Responses

Response from Hilary Frayne, Head of Nursing for the Emergency Department, Croydon Health Services 6 years ago
Hilary Frayne
Head of Nursing for the Emergency Department,
Croydon Health Services

Submitted on 01/09/2017 at 07:34
Published on Care Opinion at 10:48

I am sorry that you are unhappy with the process of obtaining consent for your recent treatment at Croydon University Hospital. I am pleased to hear your very positive comments about the staff that you came into contact with whilst at the hospital.

The consent process for elective procedures is usually in 2 stages. Initial provision of information, discussion of treatment options and initial decisions are often made at pre-assessment. The second stage of confirming that the patient still wants to go ahead with the procedure will take place on admission.

In regard to anaesthesia there will be an opportunity to discuss anaesthesia at the pre-assessment clinic and this will be recorded, but the clinician responsible for delivering the anaesthesia must ensure that the patient is giving consent to the form of anaesthesia on the day.

The aim of consent is to ensure that the patient is fully informed and aware of any significant risks to enable them to make an informed decision.

I am sorry to hear that you felt you were being persuaded to make a decision rather than being informed and advised on the options.

A copy of page 3 of your consent form which describes the benefits and risks of the proposed treatment should have been given to you. I apologise that this did not happen as it would have provided you with reassurance that no alterations were being made to your consent form.

Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. We take all feedback seriously and so your comments have been shared with senior clinical staff so that they can share your concerns with their teams so that improvements can be made.

Kind Regards

Hilary Frayne

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