Patient counselling and consent.

To the patient, illness entails not only the physical discomfort but all the psychological, social and emotional ramifications. Patient autonomy and choice are now an integral part of patient care pathways. There has been a steady shift in patient counselling and consent towards supporting patient autonomy over medical paternalism. Patients should be the prime decision makers but they can only do this if they are fully informed. The ultimate and desired goal for the health care teams is to provide a high quality clinical service, which is consistent with evidence based guidelines.