Accreditation practice pointer: patient consent for third‑party involvement

C2.2A Our practice obtains and documents the prior consent of a patient when the practice introduces a third party to the consultation.

RACGP Standards for general practice

There are times when the practice seeks the presence of a third party to a consultation with a patient. The third party may be an interpreter, clinical trainee or an observer, among others.

When this happens, the practice must gain consent from the patient or carer to comply with both privacy laws and the patent’s confidentiality rights. The consent and the third party’s identity must also be documented in the patient’s health record.

There are times when the patient or their guardian does not consent to the presence of a third party. Likewise, this must also be documented in the patient’s health record.

When the third party is a nursing or GP student, the practice needs to get consent from the patient before they enter the consult, preferably at reception. The practice can support the presence of clinical students in consults by placing signs at reception about their presence.

General practices can develop and maintain a policy about how to manage the presence of a third-party during consultations.