Description
To give valid informed consent patients must be competent, in the legal sense, to make the decision in question. This review discusses the concept of competence, the central requirements of which are: the ability to understand that there is a choice and that choices have consequences, the ability to understand the facts and probabilities about illness and treatment options, a willingness and ability to make a choice, the ability to make a voluntary choice and the ability to communicate that choice. The question of a doctors duty in this context is also examined as is the practicality of this framework in ordinary medical practice.
