Informed consent for radiological procedures: a Scottish survey

Purpose - The main purpose of the study was to investigate practices relating to informed consent for radiological procedures.Design methodology approach - All Health Boards in Scotland (15) were included in the survey and 62 hospitals were contacted. A questionnaire was developed and sent to superintendent radiographers and radiology managers. Quantitative data were entered in to SPSS-PC for analysis.Findings - A response rate of 95.2 per cent (59 62) was achieved. A total of 15 hospitals described having a trust policy document on consent and six hospitals reported departmental policies. The majority of hospitals used consent forms for interventional procedures, but not for conventional procedures, although two hospitals obtained informed consent for intravenous urography, and one for barium enemas. All departments (n=25 25) using consent forms required the patient to sign the consent form and 20 departments retained the form. Nine departments placed these in the patient's medical records.Research implications limitations - The survey demonstrated considerable diversity in hospital practices regarding informed consent for radiological procedures. The findings have significant implications for clinical governance, especially regarding risk management. Some staff may be putting themselves at risk in an increasingly litigious society. The transferability of this Scottish study needs to be established through surveys in other parts of the UK.Practical implications - The study reports diversity in practice when gaining informed consent for radiological procedures and the lack of standardisation for this process.Originality value - No previous UK empirical studies on informed consent for radiological procedures has been published.