Sensitive elements in the patient’s giving consent to a Health Service

Introduction:
The study rolled out in the hospitals in 2019, which covered both informed consent forms to high risk procedures, as well as surveys on the patients’ knowledge on their right to give an informed consent to treatment, has provided vital information on the key elements required to legally proceed in the process of making therapeutic decisions.

Aim of the research:
The survey asked the respondents about their command of the rules to give consent to a high-risk medical surgery or procedure.

Material and methods:
A scientific study was rolled out in 2 hospitals in the Świętokrzyskie voivodeship and was aimed to assess informed consent forms to medical procedures (surgical or high-risk ones). Concomitantly, data on the patients’ state of knowledge on their right to make an autonomous, informed decision to undergo a specific medical procedure, preceded by doctor-patient communication, were gathered in a research tool, a survey developed by its authors.

Results and conclusions:
The study has shown that in the process of giving consent to treatment carrying high risk for the patient, the very elements of the tool, i.e. the informed consent form, used to receive this type of declaration in writing (as required by the Polish legislature), and equally their content and how this information is conveyed to the patient, are of pivotal importance in giving legally effective consent to a medical procedure.