Electronic consent: Get Patient Consent
Consent for a procedure should be a conversation, not a signature on a clipboard five minutes before you go in. Get Patient Consent is a digital consent platform for UK clinicians that I founded. It lets me send you the consent information well before the day, so you can read it properly, think about it and raise questions.
What happens
- Once a procedure is agreed, my secretary sends you an email with a secure link (you may also be given a QR code in clinic).
- The link opens your consent form: a plain-language description of the procedure, why it is recommended, the benefits, the risks and the alternatives, including doing nothing.
- Read it at your own pace. You can note questions as you go and come back to it as many times as you like.
- When you are ready, confirm that you have understood it and sign electronically. You receive a copy.
- On the day we go through it together before the procedure, exactly as we would with a paper form. You can change your mind at any point.
Why I use it
It gives you time, which a clinic corridor never does. It gives both of us a clear record of what was explained, which protects you. And it means the consent discussion on the day is about your questions rather than reading a form for the first time.
Your information
The platform holds the consent form, your answers and your signature as a sealed record that cannot be altered afterwards, and produces a PDF that forms part of your medical record. Like the rest of your record it is retained in line with the NHS Records Management Code of Practice, which for adult health records is eight years after your last treatment. How Get Patient Consent itself protects and processes your information is set out in its privacy policy and security information. If you would prefer a paper form, say so and one will be provided; your care is not affected.
Consultation recording: ClinoVoice
Much of a consultation is lost between the room and the letter. ClinoVoice is an ambient scribe and dictation service for clinicians that I have developed: a small desk microphone connected to a secure browser application. With your permission it records the consultation and drafts the clinical note and the letter to you and your GP, which I review and approve, so that they reflect what was actually said rather than what I remembered to write down afterwards.
What happens
- At the start of the appointment I will ask whether you are happy for the consultation to be recorded. You can say no, and you can ask for the recording to stop at any time.
- The recording is used to draft your notes and your letter, which I check and approve before they are sent. The approved notes and letter become part of your medical record in the usual way.
- How the recording itself is stored, protected and how long it is kept are set out in ClinoVoice's privacy notice and data processing information, which ClinoVoice keeps up to date.
- As with any of your personal data, you can ask for a copy of your notes and letter.
Why I use it
Accuracy, and attention. When I am not typing I am listening, and the letter you receive afterwards is a better account of the conversation we had.
Questions
If anything on this page is unclear, ask at your appointment or contact the office. How we handle personal information generally is set out in the privacy policy.