The consent conundrum: legal insights and practical solutions (an EIDO Healthcare conference)

Summary

Julie Smith is a Topic leader for patient information for the hub, and Content Director for EIDO Healthcare. In this blog, Julie tells us more about a free upcoming conference (26 November, 2024) where presenters and attendees will be exploring the importance of informed consent, and why it often goes wrong. 

Content

Informed consent and patient safety

The link between informed consent and patient safety is clear. If patients are not properly informed, how can they be expected to make the best and safest decisions about their care? Informed consent empowers individuals to make educated decisions about their treatment. Healthcare professionals also need access to clear, comprehensive information to educate their patients about specific conditions and procedures. This reduces the risk of misunderstanding, litigation, and compromised outcomes.

Unfortunately, failure to inform is still a problem. Claims against the NHS are often rooted in patients feeling they were not fully educated about the risks, benefits, or alternatives to their treatment.

Conference line-up

On 26th November 2024, we (EIDO Healthcare) are hosting clinicians and thought leaders in informed consent and patient safety at our Informed Consent Conference; ‘The Consent Conundrum: Legal Insights and Practical Solutions’. The purpose of the conference is to emphasise the importance of good, informed consent and open up the conversation about how and why it often goes wrong.

Patient information, litigation and digital consent

The conference presents an invaluable opportunity to learn from experts, exchange ideas, and discuss practical solutions to improve patient safety. The agenda is packed with brilliant speakers and fascinating topics, but the one I’m most looking forward to is the panel discussion on how collaboration can help provide a gold-standard library of patient information. As the Content Director at EIDO, this probably isn’t much of a surprise! The panel members are:

• Rachel Power, Chief Executive of the Patients Association
• Sophie Randall, Director at the Patient Information Forum
• Tim Johnson, Partner and Plain Numbers Practitioner, Browne Jacobson
• Mr Omar Mulla, Consultant Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon and EIDO author.

We also have a patient, Helena Durham, sharing her experience of poor consent processes, along with lawyers and medicolegal experts discussing the litigation landscape in the NHS. Clinicians will also share their experiences with digital consent and how it can transform practice.

Recent inquiries

The final session of the day promises to be a fascinating one. Professor Vivienne Harpwood (Emerita Professor of Medical Law and Ethics, Cardiff University) and Mr Parv Sains (Consultant General Surgeon and Medicolegal Lead, ASGBI) will engage in a conversation about consent issues in recent inquiry report findings. Their focus will be on two major reports: one on infected blood and another on birth trauma. Both reports revealed appalling levels of patient care, with proper consent frequently found to be lacking. This is bound to be an emotive and eye-opening discussion.

Everyone welcome

The conference is free, and anyone can attend. I hope to see a wide range of people there, from various professional and personal backgrounds. The more diversity of thought we have in the room, the richer the conversations and lessons will be. If you’re interested in attending, you can view the full agenda and register for free here.

If you haven’t already raced off to book your place, I’ll leave you with a few more reasons to do so…

Reasons to attend

• Gain insight into medical negligence, international perspectives on consent, and collaboration in patient information.
• Listen to expert speakers discuss digital transformation in patient care, system interoperability, and consent issues in recent inquiry reports.
• Earn CPD points and receive a CPDUK certificate after the event.
• Get FREE access to EIDO's CPD-certified e-learning course, The Legal Aspects of Informed Consent: Foundation Course, after the event.

Related hub content

• Informed consent: what is it?
• Failures of informed consent and the impact on women’s health: a Patient Safety Learning blog
• Accessible patient information: a key element of informed consent (by Julie Smith)
• Using digital pre-op information to support informed consent (by Julie Smith)
• Long surgical waiting lists: improving outcomes with patient information (a blog by Julie Smith)
• Accessibility: how do we make sure our information meets patient-safety standards?
• How can we make sure the health information we produce supports patient safety? My experience of the PIF TICK (Julie Smith, Content Director at EIDO Healthcare)
• Woman’s mesh consent form was changed after signing – how can patients be better protected?

About the Author

Julie is the Content Director at EIDO Healthcare. She oversees a library of leaflets used to support patients in making informed decisions about their care, with a focus on medical procedures and operations. Julie and her team are trained in Plain English, risk communication, easy-read information, translation processes and more.

Julie is a healthcare editor by background and previously worked at MA Healthcare as Editorial Director, overseeing 25 healthcare journals. She was also the Editor for a number of journals while at MA Healthcare, including the British Journal of Nursing and British Journal of Community Nursing. She is a member of the PIF TICK steering group and a Trustee and Board Member of the Lindsay Leg Club Foundation.