Principles of consent in trauma and orthopaedics

Principles of consent in trauma and orthopaedics
Christopher Wilson, Qamar Mustafa, Tim Crook
Surgery (Oxford), 9 September 2023
Abstract
Consent is one of the essential elements of daily practice for clinicians working in Trauma and Orthopaedics. Autonomy is the right of competent adults to make informed decisions about their care. GMC guidance has placed a professional burden on surgeons to provide informed decision making. The Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board (2015) case set a precedent that has driven the modernization of consenting practice, raising the status of shared decision making from guidance to legal requirement. In a post-Montgomery landscape, consent is often the first focus for lawyers and insurers when medico-legal malpractice suit is concerned. Orthopaedic surgeons are at a higher risk of facing malpractice suites (Gould et al., 2003), yet there is a lack of formal training regarding obtaining and documenting informed consent. In this article we discuss the historical context, the current status of consent within UK medical practice, as well as strategies to ensure that consent is legally obtained within Trauma and Orthopaedics.