Viewpoint: Do any of us truly have the capacity to consent?

Life was simpler in the old days. A patient would turn up to their doctor seeking to find out what was wrong with them. The doctor, a professional with several years of study and immeasurable experience, would consider the symptoms. The doctor would hopefully examine the patient and, based on all of this, consider a differential diagnosis. ‘This is your diagnosis’, they would confidently say. Then either ‘take these pills’ or ‘have this test’. There was no room for negotiation, no informative or deliberative models of consultation, and no shared decision making. Autonomy was a phrase that would only have been used in relation to cars.

Nowadays, from the novice medical student, to the nascent doctor stalking the wards, to the …