ABSTRACT
Health professionals should be familiar with local policies on consent. If valid consent is not obtained the health professional will be accountable. Most health professionals will give advice to patients. Any advice given may be relied upon by the patient. If the advice is to their detriment, the health professional will be accountable. A health visitor advises a patient to undergo a course of treatment. The patient has an underlying heart condition, which the health visitor does not take into account. The patient agrees to the treatment and suffers a heart attack as a result. Patient referrals may pass between, for example, the GP, community care health professionals, acute Trusts, social services or emergency care practitioners. They may be interdepartmental referrals, such as an acute Trust referring a surgical patient to the physiotherapist. The psychiatrist sees the patient and prescribes drugs for schizophrenia. It emerges that patient was suffering from a brain tumour and was left untreated for several months.
