A guide to taking the first steps, making empowered decisions and getting the right support for you.
Your doctor is supposed to help you give informed consent to any treatment they offer before treating you. This means that:
Your doctor should help you by:
Unfortunately, not all doctors find it easy to make themselves clear at first. If you're still confused about your options after talking to your doctor, you can:
Usually no. But there are some very specific circumstances in which you might not have a choice about your treatment. These include:
See our legal pages on agreeing to treatment for more information about your legal rights to agree or refuse a treatment.
This information was published in December 2017.
This page is currently under review. All content was accurate when published.
References and bibliography available on request.
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