Introduction Post date: 25/08/2017 The information within this article was correct at the time of publishing. Last updated 18/05/2020 () ★ Competence General Surgery Managing clinical risk Prescribing Professionalism Show More Consent is a fundamental principle of medical law. The basic rule is simple: no-one has the right to touch anyone else without lawful excuse and if doctors do so it may well undermine patients’ trust. Such behaviour may lead to a clinical negligence claim, a complaint to the GMC or even civil or criminal proceedings for assault. There are three components to valid consent: Capacity Information Voluntariness "No-one has the right to touch anyone else without lawful excuse and if doctors do so it may well undermine patients’ trust" Capacity » Share this article Share Tweet