Patient consent is a barrier to training junior doctors on the job – a rule change is needed |
New Zealand is facing a critical shortage of doctors, both in hospitals and general practice.
In my recent research, I argue a strict requirement for patient consent to train junior doctors is one of a number of impediments to medical training.
New Zealand is an outlier in requiring patient consent for medical students or junior doctors to be present during treatment or surgery as part of their ongoing training.
Internationally, there is consensus around patient consent for medical treatment and research, but wide divergence on consent for teaching.
Australia requires the same level of consent only for medical students but not graduate doctors. The UK mentions consent for teaching but without definition or enforcement.
The US and Ireland emphasise that patients benefit from student involvement in care but provide an option to refuse involvement in teaching.
Consent for teaching is not mentioned at all in Singapore and Malaysia.
In New Zealand, the requirement for informed consent for teaching is part of the code of patient rights introduced by the Health and Disability Commission in 1996.
It is defined broadly but has been interpreted as including graduate doctors and learning in all settings. If a patient lacks capacity to give consent, teaching requires consent from their guardian or it must be in the best interests of the patient.
For example, all doctors train to perform........