Informed Consent in Surgical Practice in Port Harcourt: How Informed are the Patients?

Aim: The aim of this study was to ascertain the opinion of patients on counselling of the surgical patient in tertiary healthcare facilities in Port Harcourt in the months of May and June 2020. Background: Counseling of the surgical patient is a dynamic process and its scope which is individualized should arm the patient with information on the purpose and nature of the disease and treatment, etc. Materials and Methods: Four hundred and twenty respondents were recruited for this cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in the wards and specialist surgical out-patient clinics of Teaching Hospitals in Port Harcourt, Nigeria between the months of May and June 2020 using semi-structured questionnaires. Data obtained was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: Two hundred and twenty-five (53.6%) respondents asserted that they had counselling sessions for the surgical operation, 108 (25.7%) respondents opined that they did not have counselling session, while 87 (20.7%) were not sure if they had or not. Forty-five (10.7%) respondents asserted that the surgeons carried out the counselling. Only, 227 (54.0%) of the respondents affirmed that they were satisfied with the counselling sessions, while 104 (24.8%) respondents asserted that there was no counselling session at all. Conclusion: The opinion of patients on the counselling service experience is not entirely satisfactory. There is need for closer attention to be paid to issues of counselling of the surgical patient in order to ensure the full benefits of the services rendered.