An update on informed consent and the effect on the clinical practice of those working with people with a learning disability
Danielle Adams Principal clinical pharmacist, Mental health and learning disabilities, Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, England
Claudia Carr Senior lecturer in medical law and ethics, University of Hertfordshire School of Law, England
Daniel Marsden Senior lecturer, Kingston St Georges University, Kingston, England
Kate Senior Nursing team leader, West Community Assessment and Treatment Team, Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, England
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In people with learning disability who have capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 health professionals need to ensure that, when they are giving consent to treatment with medication, the consent is truly ‘informed’. The judgment of Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] and the Accessible Information Standard (NHS England 2016) seek to clarify this position which affects learning disability nurses as well as other healthcare professionals. This article examines how the law affects the way information is provided to service users. For people without capacity ‘Best Interests’ will continue to be applied.
Learning Disability Practice.
doi: 10.7748/ldp.2018.e1855
Citation
Adams D, Carr C, Marsden D et al (2018) An update on informed consent and the effect on the clinical practice of those working with people with a learning disability. Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2018.e1855
Peer review
This article has been subject to double-blind review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Correspondence
danielle.adams@nhs.net
Conflict of interest
None declared
Published online: 18 July 2018
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