Good record keeping provides evidence that valid consent has been obtained. The consent form is a permanent record that the patient has consented to a particular investigation or course of treatment.

All consent forms must be legible, unambiguous, contain no abbreviations, and be signed and dated by the patient and health professional. Alterations are not permitted and if any alterations are required or the clinical situation has changed, then a new form must be completed. Completed consent forms should be kept within the patient’s clinical notes, filed in the ‘Operation and anaesthetic records’ section.

Patients should be offered a copy of the completed consent form. This can be either a scanned copy (if facilities allow), or a duplicate form completed simultaneously.

Only consent forms approved by NHS Ayrshire & Arran should be used. The standard consent form is presented in appendix 1.

The procedure specific consent forms which are acceptable for use in NHS Ayrshire & Arran can be found in appendix 2.

The Service specific consent forms listed above are available from the appropriate Service.

No other consent forms are valid for use in NHS Ayrshire & Arran.

Those seeking to use a procedure-specific form, will need to demonstrate why there is a need, and why it is not met by the standard form and/or associated information leaflets. Approval should be sought through the Surgical Division Clinical Governance Group, after discussion within the relevant specialty clinical governance meeting. Forms should be based on the standard form, and only deviate from it where essential. If this occurs, the approved form should be sent to the Governance Team for inclusion within this policy.