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LETTERS: Ian M Frayling Universal consent form might help BMJ 2004; 328: 1203-d [Full text]

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Involved consent

Bruce Wallace   (14 May 2004)

Involved consent 14 May 2004
Bruce Wallace, Senior Lecturer Faculty of health sciences, University of Luton, LU4 0DZ Send response to journal: Re: Involved consent	Consent should be a process in which the individual or explicitly identified 'others' are provided with clear information to enable an informed decision to be the outcome. Experience leads me to believe that the reality may more often reflect the scenario in which each 'professional' chooses their own unique version to share with others in order to effect a response. These two interpretations are very different and if we are to improve communication there needs to be a process that everyone clearly understands, subscribes to and abides by. Only then will we avoid the experiences of the past in which too many assumptions have resulted in either poor, inappropriate, or even no communication with the most important people; i.e. patient and/or explicitly identified others. Competing interests: None declared