When I  was employed with medical specialist surgeons for 15 years, prior to coming to law, part of my role was to  complete the consent and hospital admission forms,  liaise with the patient and the hospital to organise surgery, either in the public hospital for public or private patients or in a private hospital, usually as a private patient. The private patients knew that they would be operated on by the Consultant and consented appropriately to this course, at the time of the consultation.  However, the public hospital patients would often want Dr X (Consultant)  to perform Y surgery, however, mostly it was the Registrar ('Ghost surgeon') who performed the surgery (teaching hospital), under the guidance of the Consultant (who was not always in attendance).  Some Consultants would explain their role (Visiting Medical Officer) in the public hospital system, how the public 'lists' ran etc and others would not be so forthcoming. Some doctors would require completion of the consent … [Read more...]