IMPROVING THE CONSENT PROCESS IN FOOT AND ANKLE SURGERY: USE OF PATIENT SPECIFIC LITERATURE

Informed consent is integral to good-practice. It protects the patient and offers proof of discussion and interaction between the surgeon and the patient. We compare efficacy of last clinic consent, specialised consent clinic with or without provision of patient specific literature.Group A patients underwent written consent at their last outpatient clinic and conformation of consent on the morning of surgery. Group B underwent consent in designated pre-admission clinic in the week prior to surgery. Group (C) attended the same preadmission clinic and were provided with a surgeon dictated written explanation of their surgery and particular risks. This included a explanation of the procedure, complications, risks and rewards in layman's terms, aimed at patients with a reading age of 14 years, with advice concerning alternative procedures and the consequences of taking no action. The risks are graded: common, less common and rare.All patients undertook a pre-surgery questionnaire on the morning of surgery by ...