Informed consent : problems of parental consent to paediatric cardiac surgery.

The thesis includes: reviews of ethics, law, philosophy, psychology and social science literature; two years of ethnographic research in two children's heart surgery units in London. Consent is both informed and voluntary. The question is: can shocked parents understand the medical information, and give willing consent to children’s heart surgery? The challenge is to develop sociological means of overcoming traditional dualisms and to connect feeling and thinking, and trace parents' rational emotional moral journey from rejection and doubt to trust in the clinical team and courage to consent. The different perspectives, knowledge and values of doctors and families and how these affect the consent process then become apparent. Key influences are: the way medical care is organised; the form and content of information exchanged; and the relationships between the children, parents and staff. Clarifying some of the problems encountered by families and doctors may help them to approach more nearly to the impossible yet important ideal of informed consent