Informed consent and Montgomery implications for clinical practice

Consent is central to the delivery of healthcare, and all healthcare professionals must obtain consent before proceeding with any interventions. The nature of informed consent allows the patient to fully participate in any proposed healthcare interventions. Informed consent requires high-quality information to be given that enables the patient to fully understand all the benefits as well as the risks associated with proposed interventions. This approach respects the right of the patient to self-determine what happens to their body provided they have the relevant capacity to understand the nature of the proposed intervention. Although consent may be seen as a procedural ‘must’, the importance of the dialogue that takes place between the patient and the clinician is what determines the validity of the consent as advocated by the Supreme Court ruling in Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board (Scotland) [2015]. It is noted that the number of legal cases related to consent has risen since the Montgomery decision.