Informed Consent under the Ghana Health Service Patients Charter: Practice and Awareness

Background: Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his/her own body. Patient autonomy and the practice of informed patient consent are now pivotal in medical practice. Aim: To assess patient’s knowledge of Patients’ Rights Charter and whether patients receive adequate information to enable them make an informed consent to a particular treatment. Methodology: Patients who were undergoing elective surgery from selected surgical departments of Komfo Anokye teaching hospital in Kumasi were randomly selected and assisted to answer structured questionnaire without the knowledge of their doctors. The study period was in June to December (2014). Descriptive analysis was done using SPSS (II) of the results. Results: 84.7% (144) had no idea about the Patients’ Rights Charter of the Ghana Health Service. 75% (128) did not know or had not heard of informed patient consent. Of those who knew of the charter, 85% (37) had ever stayed in a developed country. 60% (102) did not know of their diagnosis. 79% (134) said the doctor only asked them to either sign or thumb print the consent document without giving them treatment options or possible complications. Conclusion: Most of respondents undergoing various surgical procedures at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital were not aware of the existence of the Patients’ Rights Charter of the Ghana Health Service. Again, practitioners did not provide sufficient information to patients for them to make an informed decision about their health.