Sector-wide consent principles launched to enhance patient safety

The General Osteopathic Council is pleased to collaborate with other health professional regulators, as part of a working group led by the Health and Care Professions Council, the Patient Safety Commissioner, the Patients Association and the Council of Deans for Health to publish new sector-wide Consent Principles. They aim to improve informed decision-making, reduce patient and service user harm, and be more accessible to patients and health professionals

The principles align well with those already in place for osteopaths and their patients in the GOsC’s Osteopathic Practice Standards. Our independently evaluated GOsC resources to support shared decision making can help implement the principles in practice and are available on our website.

Included in the principles are shared decision-making, individualised risk-benefit communication, continuous consent conversations, formal conclusion with consent confirmed and recognising patients as equal partners. They emphasise the importance of genuine partnership and dialogue between patients and health professionals; supporting open communication, enabling patients to feel heard and to make choices that reflect their values and what matters to them in their care.

Jo Clift, Chair of GOsC said: ‘We are very pleased to be collaborating with fellow regulators, the Patient Safety Commissioner and the Patients Association on these sector-wide consent principles which emphasise that patients are equal partners in decision making. We agree that consent is centred on dialogue and patient values, and that this contributes to increased safety, quality and trust’.

Find out more about the sector-wide consent principles led by the HCPC

Find out more about the GOsC resources to support shared decision making

Find out more about the GOsC’s expectations on communication and patient partnership in the Osteopathic Practice Standards