Consent Form
The purpose of this guidance is to advice all staff at TWHS of the principles of consent to access the medical records of a patient via a third party or to gain access to manage healthcare on their behalf.The law states that organisations must, when requested by an individual, give that person access to their personal health information and, occasionally, certain relevant information pertaining to others. To do this, they must have procedures in place that allow for the easy retrieval and assimilation of this information. In order for this to be provided to a third party, explicit consent from the patient MUST be recorded in the patient’s notes. At TWHS we do this by following the protocol which is to receive a signed form created by TWHS which is saved into the patient’s records and the completion of a template.
Policies and procedures have changed over the years and consent may have been recorded on the patient’s notes. From 7th May 2024, written consent previously uploaded to the patients’ medical notes will be able to be used on one occasion. Staff will have a responsibility to send the new consent form to the patient, and the patient will have responsibility to return this to us. If consent has been previously verbal, then staff will NOT be permitted to discuss the patient with the third party until a form has been completed and returned to us. Staff will explain to patient that this is a reformed policy implemented to keep our patients safe and their medical record confidential.