Consent, capacity and the law [BOOK CHAPTER]

Consent, capacity and the law [BOOK CHAPTER]
Jonathan Waite
The ECT Handbook, Online 2018; chapter 22
Summary
All medical procedures, be they therapeutic or investigative, touch on the issue of consent – that is a measure of willingness on the part of the patient to undertake the procedure proposed. In this, ECT is no different to other therapeutic interventions. However, ECT has a particular status both within psychiatry and within the law that makes specific discussion of issues with regard to consent necessary.