IN more than 70% of claims and complaints about informed consent the main allegation was that the doctor failed to mention or properly explain the risk of complications, new research shows.
The MJA study of 481 cases of alleged failures in the informed consent process found 57% were against surgeons and 92% involved surgical procedures. About one in six cases involved cosmetic procedures and the rate of complaints against plastic surgeons was significantly higher than that against any other specialists. (1)
“You are not expected to warn of absolutely every single complication but you have got to warn of material risks, which are that if a reasonable person in the patient’s position, if warned of the risk, would be likely to attach significance to it”, Ms McDonald said.
It was even more important with elective cosmetic surgery to ensure that the consent and the patient’s expectations of the procedure were realistic, she said.
Dr John Buntine, president of the Australian Association of Surgeons, in a letter to the MJA relating to previous research on patient complaints, said he believed that a common stimulus for complaints was a perception that the doctor was overconfident, perhaps arrogant, and had little personal interest in the patient’s welfare. (2)
“Good manners, kindness, demonstrations of personal interest and concern, and a degree of humility all discourage complaints”, he said.
- Cathy Saunders, MJA InSight, 19 September 2011
