Informed Consent: When Is There A Duty To Obtain Consent On Technical Choices?

The Supreme Court in Montgomery imposed (or perhaps clarified) a duty to ensure that any patient is aware of the material risks involved in any recommended treatment.  They also extended the duty to obtain informed consent to informing the patient of "any reasonable alternative or variant treatments."

Reasonable alternative treatments is a relatively straightforward concept – for example, in a fracture case it may be that there are a menu of reasonable possible treatments e.g. rest and ice, immobilisation in plaster, or surgical fixation.  Provided that any option is a reasonable treatment, the patient should be informed of that treatment option, even if the doctor recommends one particular treatment as part of their professional judgement.