ABSTRACT
While there is a circular entitled A Guide to Consent for Examination or Treatment, and guidance issued by the BMA to doctors, the notion of consent is by no means straightforward in its scope or application. This chapter concentrates on consent to treatment in English law, examining its history and the general principles, consent and the pregnant patient, and consent issues for the mentally incapacitated adult (the comparative survey is contained in Chapter 10, which deals with the origins of the notion of consent in American law and other non-English jurisdictions).
