Consent and privileges

Consent records carry a purpose, version, signed date, expiry date, document and status for a patient. Clinician privilege records carry privilege type, license number, issuing authority, verification evidence, effective dates and status. Care-team assignments add the patient’s clinician, access purpose and effective period. The practice can look at those records before a visit, note review or dispensation and make a human decision with the relevant evidence in view.

• Patient permission. A signed consent has a specific purpose, version and expiry for the patient.
• Clinician eligibility. Governance checks verification evidence, effective dates and privilege type for the clinician.
• Care-team access. An active assignment records the patient, clinician, access purpose and dates.

Agree the consent purposes and versions used in the practice, who checks a signature and what to do when consent is withdrawn. The Clinical Governance Administrator should set a regular practice for reviewing privilege evidence and effective dates. Distinguish a pending privilege from a verified one when assigning clinical work. Decide who keeps care-team assignments current when responsibility changes.

Choose a patient whose consent is due to expire and a clinician whose privilege is pending verification. The coordinator checks the patient’s document, purpose and expiry date. The governance administrator checks the clinician’s issuing authority, license and evidence before marking the privilege verified. The team then confirms that the care-team assignment is active during the visit. This exercise is about making the decision on the right record, not assuming a calendar slot establishes permission.

The patient consent and clinician privilege answer different questions. A signed consent records the patient’s permission for a stated purpose. A verified privilege records the clinician’s eligibility for a stated type of work during effective dates. The care-team assignment explains the clinician’s relationship to this patient. Check all three records in the relevant context instead of treating any one status as a blanket permission for every encounter. That distinction is especially useful when a patient changes clinician.

• Pending consents — Open the relevant records and check their current status before work begins.
• Privileges awaiting verification — Inspect the linked person, date and evidence before the next handoff.

Follow the care process and the access model. For setup sequence, see implementation.