Patient Consent Form Bill

House of Commons

Session 2000-2001
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Patient Consent Form Bill

This is the text of the Patient Consent Form Bill, as presented to the House of Commons on 17th January 2001.

Patient Consent Form Bill

ARRANGEMENT OF CLAUSES

Clause

1. Patient consent forms.

2. Short title, commencement and extent.

A
B I L L
TO
Require health service providers to provide patients with a standard consent form; and for connected purposes.
BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

Patient consent forms.     1. - (1) Subject to subsection (4), it shall be the duty of a health service provider ("provider") to ensure that, before a medical or surgical procedure ("procedure") is performed on a patient, a standard patient consent form ("consent form") has been completed and signed by that patient and by the clinician responsible for the treatment of that patient.

    (2) The consent form shall, when completed, include-

(a) a description of the proposed procedure, and information about the risks and benefits of the procedure to the patient;

(b) a summary of any discussions between the patient and the clinician about the procedure;

(c) the patient's signature signifying consent to the procedure and any additional procedures which may be necessary in that patient's best interests, with the exception of any specified additional procedures to which the patient withholds consent; and

(d) the clinician's signature signifying that the patient has been given adequate relevant and available information about the procedure to be undertaken.

    (3) The Secretary of State shall by regulations prescribe the form of the consent form, and those regulations may specify that the consent form shall include information additional to the matters described in subsection (2).

    (4) The Secretary of State may by regulations provide that no consent form is required to be completed and signed in the case of-

(a) certain specified procedures; or

(b) a patient's incapacity.

    (5) In this section, "health service provider" means a provider of healthcare services as part of the National Health Service or an independent healthcare provider.

Short title, commencement and extent.     2. - (1) This Act may be cited as the Patient Consent Form Act 2001.

    (2) This Act comes into force on such day as the Secretary of State may by order appoint.

    (3) This Act extends to England and Wales only.

© Parliamentary copyright 2001
Prepared 28 March 2001