Consent, capacity and chaperones
Consent is a conversation that continues through the whole appointment, not a signature at the start of it.
Applies to. Every treatment, therapy, class and consultation.
Informed consent
Before anything begins, you are told what is proposed, what it involves physically, what the common side effects are, what the material risks are, what the alternatives are including doing nothing, and what happens next. Questions are answered before you are asked to agree, not after. Consent is recorded in writing for anything invasive.
Withdrawing it
You can stop at any point, for any reason or none, without explaining yourself. Say stop and everything stops. Ending a session early in this way is never treated as a missed appointment and is never held against you.
Capacity
Capacity is assumed unless there is clear reason to think otherwise, and it is decision specific. Where capacity is in doubt, the practitioner follows the Capacity (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law and involves the appropriate representative. An unwise decision is not the same thing as a lack of capacity.
Chaperones
You may ask for a chaperone for any appointment, at any time, and you do not have to give a reason. You may bring your own. Where an examination or treatment involves an intimate area, a chaperone is offered as a matter of course, and the offer and the outcome are recorded. If no chaperone is available and you want one, the appointment is rescheduled rather than pushed through.
Undressing and draping
You are told in advance what you will be asked to remove, you are left alone to change, and you remain covered other than the area being worked on. Nothing is uncovered without being announced first.
If any of this needs explaining, ask.
51 Le Pollet, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 1WQ