The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7473 p411-414
13 October 2007

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Consent: the heart of patient respect

In the second article of a series discussing the 2007 Code of Ethics for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians, Joy Wingfield looks at the new requirements concerning consent and the capacity to consent

Continuing professional development articles

Code of ethics series

Joy Wingfield, FRPharmS, is professor of pharmacy law and ethics at Nottingham School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham

Suggested answers to “spot the ethical issue” situations PDF (20K)

SUMMARY

In their traditional role as suppliers of medicines, pharmacists have not had to pay a great deal of attention to the nature of consent — pharmacy customers volunteer information and often invite examination when they ask for advice on over-the-counter medicines.

After seeing a GP and having first consented to treatment by medication patients also implicitly consent, by bringing in their prescription, to the use of their personal data for dispensing. In hospital, pharmacists reasonably assume that patients have consented to be there and have accepted whichever treatment they are offered.

However, many new roles for pharmacists, such as diagnostic testing, performing medication reviews or medicines use reviews, running long-term treatment clinics and prescribing, require more significant interventions in patient care and access to records in GP surgeries and elsewhere. In such situations, consent cannot simply be assumed — pharmacists must ensure positive steps have been taken to secure valid consent.

For the first time, the code of ethics has explicit references to the need for consent and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has provided additional standards and guidance concerning consent to address possible complications.

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