Consent to treatment is a principle that you, the patient needs to give us your permission to perform any type of examination or treatment.

We need to give you information before performing any type of examination or treatment to ensure that you understand what we are going to do and know what to expect both during and after that examination or treatment. We also need to explain to you any risks involved with any examination or treatment that we perform.

How do we gain consent from you?

We gain consent in two ways, implied consent and informed verbal consent. Being a private practice there is an element of implied consent by the fact that you turn up to your appointment knowing that you are paying for treatment. However this only goes so far. Just because you have turned up for your treatment session it doesn’t mean that we can start treating you without any explanation of what we are doing.

That is where informed verbal consent come in. Before everything we do, we will give you an explanation of what we are going to do, explain any risks or possible side effects and the ask you if it is ok to carry on. We record this in our notes with a simple tick box that reads ‘consent gained for assessment and treatment.’

You can withdraw your consent at any time

Just because you have given your consent, it doesn’t mean that you cannot change your mind. This is perhaps one of the most important components of consent, you can withdraw it at any time. 

All you have to do is tell us that you aren’t happy with what we are doing and we will stop.

Chaperones

We deal with some sensitive issues. Sometimes we have to ask some personal questions and sometimes we need to assess and treat areas that might need you to undress to your underwear. We need your permission to do this (even to ask the personal questions), and you don’t have to do anything you are uncomfortable with. If you are at all worried, it is absolutely fine to have someone with you in your treatment sessions (a chaperone).

This is actually a two-way process, there may even be occasions where we as therapists would like to have a chaperone with us.

Just remember, we need your consent for all things, at all times, and you can withdraw your consent at any time.

11th December 2020