Consent and risk disclosure of COVID in the post-pandemic era

Abstract

Informed consent is a fundamental component of ethical and legal medical practice in the United Kingdom (UK). As COVID-19 transitions to an endemic phase, this study explores how consistently its ongoing risk is communicated during the surgical consent process. We prospectively reviewed 147 surgical consent forms collected over 2 months in 2024 at a UK tertiary centre. The primary aim was to assess how often COVID-19 risk was documented; secondary outcomes included postoperative infection rates and 30-day mortality. COVID-19 was explicitly mentioned in only 5.4% of consent forms. No significant variation was found across clinician grades (p = 0.840). Three patients developed postoperative COVID-19, and one died within 30 days. This mortality association was statistically significant (p = 0.020). Despite existing guidance, COVID-19 risk is rarely discussed when obtaining consent, raising ethical and legal concerns. These findings highlight the need for institutional safeguards to ensure transparent, patient-centred consent that aligns with medico-legal standards in post-pandemic care.