The Essentials of Consent

I recently created the following video for our local medical students.  Many people think that surgical consent is just a process of listing all the possible complications of an operation.  Of course it is both simpler and more complex than that.  I find that following a structured 5 point plan helps me to be sure to cover the important points and helps patient realise just what it is they are agreeing to.  Given the new legal requirements that demand that consent should reflect what the patient thinks is important, rather than what the surgeon thinks is important (radical thought, that one?), the emphasis should be on an open discussion rather than the old-fashioned "sign here" approach.

I recently created the following video for our local medical students, but offer it here to a wider audience.