Informing patients of risks inherent in treatment.

Consent to treatment lies at the heart of autonomous decision making by patients who are entitled to make a free choice about whether to accept or refuse treatment. To help patients arrive at their decision district nurses must ensure that they give sufficient information about the nature and risks inherent in the treatment to allow an informed choice to be made. This article considers how much information regarding risks needs to be disclosed. It discusses how the law requires a different level of disclosure for patients who ask no questions about risks, those who make general enquiries about risks and those who ask specific questions about the risks inherent in treatment.