Are our patient consent rules making it harder to train the next generation of doctors? 

An article in The Conversation argues that the strict requirement for patients to content to the involvement of junior doctors in their care is hindering medical training.  

Author and Associate Professor of Primary Health Care and General Practice at Otago University, Dr Ben Gray says it’s limiting hands-on learning, especially in critical situations. 

He told Kerre Woodham the interpretation of the rules has narrowed over time, and doesn’t include situations where patients are unconscious or distressed. 

Gray says it means students potentially won’t have the chance to learn about those patients and how to treat them, if they can’t get consent.  

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