15th March 2022

‘Consent’ refers to the permission given by a patient before they receive any medical treatment

‘Consent’ refers to the permission given by a patient before they receive any medical treatment, or have a test or examination performed upon them. When discussing from an ethical point of view, it is closely related to ‘decision making’ – which is an ongoing process that necessitates the exchange of relevant information between patient and doctor for individual situations. In accordance with core medical ethical principles, consent should be ‘informed’– meaning the patient has been given all of the information necessary to make the decision. Understanding the principles of and being able to obtain informed consent is a key duty of a doctor.

Which of the following ethical principles most closely relates to the description of consent detailed here?

Select the SINGLE most appropriate option from the list below. Select ONE option only.