Over 65% of acute NHS Trusts use EIDO’s informed consent patient information library to inform their patients prior to surgery. Every year, approximately six million NHS patients are empowered by EIDO’s documents to make fully-informed decisions about their care.

NHS Trusts that don’t already use EIDO’s procedure-specific library can now benefit from a free three-month trial, thanks to a joint initiative with the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England).

The RCS is committed to enabling surgeons to achieve and maintain the highest standards of surgical practice and patient care. It supports over 25,000 members in the UK and internationally by improving their skills and knowledge, facilitating research and developing policy and guidance.

Writing to NHS Trusts in June 2021, Andrew Reed, Chief Executive of the RCS England said:

The NHS is facing its biggest ever challenge to patient safety.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented backlog of elective surgery cases. Thousands of patients who consented to their treatment many months ago will now need to be reassessed and reconsented in view of changed and new risks and changed personal circumstances. A rigorous informed consent process for these patients is crucial to avoid a further surge in consent-related litigation, as seen after the Montgomery v Lanarkshire [2015] Supreme Court ruling.

To support this, The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is continuing to offer all NHS Trusts a free three-month trial of a comprehensive library of informed consent information. This has been developed in partnership with specialist information provider EIDO Healthcare.

In parallel, EIDO Healthcare will provide consent tools to support remote consultations as part of the trial and assist with integrating this content into your digital transformation plans.

Increasing litigation costs

In the four years following the Montgomery ruling, consent litigation costs for “failure to warn” more than doubled. RCS England believes that this rise will only continue if hospitals do not improve support for patients through the consent process.

Towards a solution

The Cumberlege Report stated that “information should be conveyed to patients in a way that is clear and meaningful” and the updated November 2020 GMC guidance stated this information should use “the best available evidence”. Data has shown that Trusts using the EIDO library paid out (on average) 41% less in consent litigation fees, where “failure to warn” was a contributory cause.

With 20 years of experience in informed consent, EIDO believes passionately in patients and clinicians working together to make informed treatment decisions. Our industry-leading library has become a UK standard in accurate and reliable healthcare information to support each patient’s journey from diagnosis to recovery.

For details of the FREE three month trial, contact EIDO today on 0115 878 1000 or [email protected].