The anesthetists in our institute never took consent for giving anesthesia to patients. That was left for the surgeons to handle. The surgeons did that because they wanted the patients anesthetized to operate on. We would not mind the extra work, because we wanted the patients treated at any cost.
But I realized that that the courts also regarded the surgeons responsible even if the error in management had been that of an anesthetist, stating that the surgeon was responsible for what the anesthetist did, something like vicarious liability. Anesthesiology is a separate science. The doctors of that specialty get a degree of their own, and work independent of the surgeon. As a step towards making the judges understand this, I thought it would be better if the anesthetists obtained consents from patients for giving anesthesia. They knew what anesthesia they would give to a given patient, and would be the best persons to explain the associated risks of the same. I also realized that many private high end hospitals had separate consents for anesthesia. So I told our anesthetists to prepare their own consent forms and use them. Then I went on vacation while they were working on it. But when I came back from my vacation, I found out that they had not started taking their own consents.
"Why are you not separate consent for anesthesia?" I asked the anesthetist in charge of our OT.
"Our consent form is ready. But our head of department has not yet permitted us to use those forms" she said.
"Why?"
"She wants approval from the legal department."
"Use those forms until legal department approves them. If any change is suggested, use the changed form subsequently."
"I cannot do it until the head of department permits me" she said.
"Then call her and ask her again" I said.
"She has not yet decided on it" she said.
"Indecision does not put off troubles" I said. She smiled in response, but made no move to call her head of department.
I knew I would get nowhere. Inactivity was the most approved method of handling troublesome issues in civic offices and even in some parts of civic hospitals. So I called my Registrar and instructed her in front of that anesthetist, "from now on write clearly on our consent forms that consent for anesthesia is not taken. Let them give anesthesia without consents if they want."
That did it. Within a half hour, one hundred printed forms for consent for anesthesia arrived in the OT.
