Wouter Leclercq

Chapter 9 144 FOCAL POINTS FOR INFORMED CONSENT The NTvG earlier published an article about the basic rules of preoperative informed consent and the current limitations and focal points in this respect. 5,6 The basic rules include: reach agreement within the department about the information that is given during common interventions; make sure that leaflets and websites are up-to-date; avoid jargon and check whether the core message has been conveyed and understood; repeat information if necessary, emphasize that the patient can always ask additional questions, and explain how this works in practice. 5 There have been regular reports in both the scientific press and the mainstream media indicating that this process needs to be improved. 4,7-12 Physicians and patients appear to have different opinions, and not just about the content and scope of the information that is provided preoperatively. 13 There also appears to be a big difference between what physicians think they do and what actually happens in practice. 7,8