51. Assessing capacity and obtaining consent for thrombolysis for acute stroke
- Author
-
Valerie Jones, Jonathan Akinsanya, Paul Diggory, and Elizabeth Heitz
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Best interests ,Acute illness ,Obtaining consent ,medicine ,Occasional Papers ,Humans ,In patient ,Mental Competency ,Thrombolytic Therapy ,Risks and benefits ,Intensive care medicine ,Letters to the Editor ,Stroke ,Acute stroke ,Informed Consent ,business.industry ,General Medicine ,Thrombolysis ,medicine.disease ,United Kingdom ,humanities ,Acute Disease ,Physical therapy ,business - Abstract
When offering treatment to a patient with capacity they should be informed of the risks and benefits of therapy and consent should be obtained. For patients without capacity, treatment is given in their ‘best interests’. Achieving and assessing capacity to consent for treatment in the presence of acute illness can be difficult and especially so in patients suffering with acute stroke. This article presents patients’ and doctors’ perspectives on assessing capacity to consent to thrombolytic therapy for stroke.
- Published
- 2009