Relative’s consent to treatment of patient is not needed

Editor—Morris described the problems he faced when an anaesthetised woman’s partner refused consent for an emergency laparotomy after a caesarean section and primary haemorrhage.¹ He was making life more difficult for himself than he need. The Medical Defence Union’s booklet Consent to Treatment states: “There is at present no mechanism in English and Welsh law for any other person, or indeed a court, to authorise or consent to treatment on behalf of an adult, whether that adult is competent or not.”² It goes on to suggest that it is advisable to obtain a second, senior opinion and to inform the next of kin or other relatives. A note should be made in the clinical record to explain the absence of formal consent, but lifesaving treatment should not be withheld in these circumstances for apparent lack of consent.

This is an important and subtly different approach from that when dealing with a conscious, competent adult who refuses consent. In that case, recent legal judgment makes it clear that the patient’s wishes should be respected.