The PRSB is a not-for-profit organisation that develops, and helps to implement, standards for the structure and content of health and social care records. Among other things, these standards mean that the right information is captured and recorded in health records that can be shared electronically across a variety of IT and digital systems around the four nations of the UK.
One of the PRSB’s current projects is to develop a standard for shared decision making. This means that patients can be supported by clinicians and other professionals to make the decisions that are right for them based on their personal circumstances.
Following a landmark ruling in 2015 (Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board) the approach is now unambiguously patient centred. Healthcare professionals are adapting to ensure individual patient circumstances are being discussed as an essential part of the shared decision-making process.
PRSB recently invited ConsentWise to participate in a working group to discuss what should be included in the standard. The working group involves clinicians, patients, and technology suppliers. The aim of this stage of the project was to review an initial draft of the new standard, promote objective discussion and provide feedback for the next iteration.
ConsentWise are delighted to be involved in the project as it is highly relevant to our aim – to transform consent in healthcare. Our solution is designed from the ground up to enable healthcare teams to create, share and communicate with patients before a medical or surgical procedure.
We look forward to working closely with PRSB as they develop this new standard. We hope that our platform will be evaluated to ensure that we put the new standard into practice and to make sure that our platform is compliant over the coming years as the area of shared decision making evolves.
Definitions:
Shared decision–making: where individuals are supported by clinicians and other professionals to make health and care decisions that are right for them, based on their personal aims and goals.
Consent to treatment: means a person must give permission before they receive any type of medical treatment, test or examination. It is an important part of medical ethics and international human rights law.
