Audio recording of consent: attitudes of patients and healthcare staff
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Audio recording of consent – attitudes of patients and healthcare staff
IRAS ID
225612
Contact name
Steve Yentis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
A basic ethical and legal tenet of modern healthcare is that treatment cannot be administered to patients (with capacity) without their consent. If the consent process is inadequate, it may lead to poor decision-making and dissatisfaction, sometimes leading to complaints or legal claims. Adequate and accurate documentation of the consent discussion is crucial in resolving some of these issues. Currently, such discussions are routinely documented in the patient’s clinical notes or on specific consent forms, but patients are generally not given copies of the discussion itself. \n\nThe hypothesis is that audio recording of consent discussions would provide a record of the discussions for the patient and healthcare staff to refer to later, to assist understanding and potentially prevent dissatisfaction, complaints and claims; and may improve the consent process itself if both parties know that the discussion will be audio-recorded.\n\nThis project aims to establish the acceptability and feasibility of audio recording of consent. The first step in exploring the feasibility of recording consent discussions is to ascertain the views of the parties involved, since without support for such a scheme it is unlikely to succeed. The aim of this project is to investigate the views of patients, doctors and midwives in maternity services at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, on audio recording of consent. \n\nWe aim to address the following research questions:\n- What are the attitudes of patients and healthcare staff regarding audio recording of consent discussions? \n- Are there major differences between the attitudes of staff and patients regarding audio recording of consent discussions?\n- Were there to be a trial of such recordings, what would be the main perceived concerns and/or practical obstacles that would need addressing?\n
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SW/0154
Date of REC Opinion
14 Jul 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion