1. What is Consent?
Consent means that a person must give permission before they receive any type of care and support, medical treatment, test or examination. This must be done after the member of staff or healthcare practitioner has explained what is involved.
2. Some Principles of Consent
There are some important principles about consent for adults who receive care and support services. These include:
- care workers should assume that people can consent to their care and treatment, unless they have been told otherwise;
- just because a person has a learning disability or mental health problem, this does not automatically mean they cannot consent to their care or treatment;
- where an adult is not able to consent, trained staff and family should decide what is in the adult’s best interests and will communicate that to the care workers who are providing their care and support.
