Consent is where a person provides either written, verbal or implied authorisation for something to happen (“Consent”, n.d.). Before any medical procedure, treatment or operation, the health care professional must gain consent from the patient. Under New South Wales law, failing to gain consent prior to medical treatment can result in legal action being taken and the health care professional being charged with assault and battery (NSW Government, 2005). For consent to be valid and legal, the patient receiving the treatment must be informed of, and completely understand their condition and the reason for their treatment in order to make the most appropriate and informed decision without any influence or pressure from others; the person must be informed of, and understand all the risks It is the health care professionals duty of care to provide all information in regards to treatment to the patient (NSW Government, 2005). If a person is not capable of giving giving consent due to being under age, mental illness, cognitive impairment or being unconscious, there are alternate options available to assist a person to express there health care preferences for instance, in the case of a child, a parent or guardian could consent to medical treatment on their behalf or in the case of an adult with cognitive impairment, an advance care directive could be beneficial in this situation. An advanced care directive or a living will, is a legal document that contains a person ‘s wishes or instructions in regards to their future health care or their end of life care. In an advance care directive, a surrogate decision maker can also be nominated to make decisions on the patient ‘s behalf (Cartwright,
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