3 Apr 2018
Royal College details further advice for vets and veterinary nurses regarding client discussions and responsibility prior to treatments or procedures being carried out.
James Westgate
Job Title
The RCVS has updated its supporting guidance for vets and VNs on informed consent, with more advice on discussing it with clients and who is responsible for seeking consent.
Codes of professional conduct for both vets and VNs stress the need for effective communication with clients, as well as ensuring informed consent is obtained and documented before treatments or procedures are carried out.
At its January meeting, the RCVS standards committee approved changes to chapter 11 (”Communication and consent”) of the supporting guidance to the codes to provide further advice to the professions on matters that should be discussed with clients to ensure informed consent is gained, provide clarification on who can gain consent for a procedure and give some additional guidance on consent forms.
Nick Oldham, RCVS standards and advisory manager, said: “We hope this updated guidance is more accessible, readable and aids members of the profession in developing a more comprehensive approach to gaining informed consent for treatments and procedures – and, therefore, reduce the risk of miscommunication and misunderstanding, which can lead to concerns being raised by clients.”
Mr Oldham added: “For example, we have updated our guidance to encourage vets to consider discussing a number of additional factors with a client before obtaining consent.
“This includes the nature, purpose and benefits of any treatment or procedures; the likely outcomes, including potential risks; financial estimates; informing the client when other treatments may have available; and checking the client understands what he or she is agreeing to, rather than assuming the client understands both the potential financial outlay and possible side effects.
“Furthermore, there is additional guidance for vets on who should be seeking consent. While ordinarily it is expected the vet undertaking the procedure or providing treatment is responsible for obtaining the client’s consent, we know this is not always practical.
“Therefore, we clarify the responsibility of obtaining consent can be delegated to another vet and, failing that, a registered vet nurse or student vet nurse could obtain consent, provided he or she is suitably trained, has sufficient knowledge of the proposed procedure or treatment and understands the risks involved.”
The updated supporting guidance can be found in full on the RCVS website.
The code of professional conduct and its supporting guidance can also be downloaded as an app.
Members of the profession seeking confidential advice on matters relating to professional conduct can contact the standards and advice team via 020 7202 0789 or [email protected]
