Consent at NALHN
Consent to medical treatment
Except in certain circumstances, you have the right to make an informed choice about the health and medical care and treatment you want, or do not want. This is known as “consent to medical treatment”.
If you are coming into hospital for a procedure, you may receive a consent form as part of your admission to hospital. Before you decide whether to give your consent, it is important that you understand the procedure. A member of staff will explain the nature of the procedure to you, including the consequences, risks and benefits of having the procedure. Information sheets about many surgeries and procedures are also available to help explain the procedure.
If you are having an operation, blood transfusion, radiotherapy treatment, treatment requiring anaesthesia or any other serious or high-risk procedure, your consent must be in writing. Please read all the information on the consent form before you sign it. If there is any part of the procedure or the consent form you do not understand, please ask a member of staff for more information.
Please remember, you can withdraw your consent at any time – even if you have already signed a consent form.
If, in the future, you cannot make decisions yourself (for example, in an emergency situation or if you later lose capacity), you can express your wishes in advance about the treatment you do or do not want. You can do this by completing an Advance Care Directive and/or appointing a Substitute Decision Maker. If you have an Advance Care Directive, please bring the original or a certified copy to the hospital with you. For more information visit the Advance Care Directive website.
Financial Consent
NALHN’s responsibility
The Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN) is required to provide patients with an explanation of the out-of-pocket costs that may be incurred should an eligible patient elect to be treated as a private patient, prior to hospital admission or treatment.
Information must include the following advice:
- that the patient who has elected to be treated as a private patient will be charged at the prevailing current hospital rates for hospital accommodation for medical and diagnostic services, prostheses and any other relevant services; and
- they may not be fully covered by their private health insurance for the fees charged for their treatment and that they should seek advice from their doctor(s), the hospital and their health fund regarding likely medical, accommodation and other costs and the extent to which these costs are covered.
Patient/Nominee responsibility
The patient or nominee must confirm with their health insurer prior to hospital admission or treatment, or as soon as practical thereafter, the following:
- rates of reimbursement for each of the expected charges for the specific insurance policy they hold;
- if the planned admission or treatment is within a waiting or exclusion period for the policy; and
- if the admission or treatment is covered by the health fund’s no gap or gap cover scheme.
This informed financial consent must be confirmed in writing and signed by the patient or their nominee prior to elective admission or as soon as practical for all other admissions.