Audio-recording of consent for anaesthesia for caesarean section
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Audio-recording of consent for anaesthesia for elective caesarean section – a pilot study
IRAS ID
239096
Contact name
Steve Yentis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Informed consent should be obtained from patients (with capacity) before treatment – including anaesthesia – is administered. If the consent process is inadequate, it may lead to poor decision-making and dissatisfaction, sometimes leading to complaints or legal claims, especially in the current legal climate post-Montgomery. Obstetric practice is a high-risk area for medicolegal claims and accurate, reliable documentation of consent is therefore vital in this group.
The 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.
This project aims to establish the acceptability and feasibility of audio recording of consent for elective caesarean section. We plan to trial the concept by establishing audio recording of consent for anaesthesia for elective caesarean section, and aim to the investigate the views of patients at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital taking part.
We aim to address the following research questions:
- What are the views of patients (and to a lesser extent, doctors) involved in audio recording of consent discussions for anaesthesia for elective caesarean section regarding its acceptability and utility?
- What were perceived concerns and/or practical obstacles to overcome in the trial of concept?REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1150
Date of REC Opinion
23 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion