HC Deb 02 December 1993 vol 233 c692W
Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for Health at what point a complaint under the patients charter concerning the right of a patient to a clear explanation of a proposed treatment, including any risks or alternatives, becomes a complaint concerning clinical judgment.

Dr. Mawhinney

If there is a complaint that a health professional in the exercise of clinical judgment did not provide an explanation of a proposed treatment, including risks or alternatives, then it is a complaint concerning clinical judgment from the moment it is made, since the decision on how much information to provide to a patient, and the terms in which any warning of any risks is given prior to treatment is a clinical decision.

Back to
Forward to