What every person should know before, during, and after treatment decisions
As a patient or health service user in Aotearoa New Zealand, you have powerful legal rights – including the right to be fully informed and actively involved in any decisions about your healthcare. This is called informed consent, and it’s more than a form or a tick-box. It’s an interactive process rooted in respect, transparency, and trust.
What Is Informed Consent?
Informed consent means you are given all the information you need – in a way you can understand – to make a voluntary and informed decision about your care. This includes:
- Why a procedure or treatment is being recommended
- What it involves (including possible side effects, complications, or limitations)
- Alternatives available – including doing nothing
- Time to consider your options and ask questions
- The opportunity to refuse or withdraw consent at any point
Informed consent is your legal right – not a privilege granted by a practitioner.
The Code: Your Legal Rights
Your rights are protected under the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights (Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles apply). You have the right to:
1. Respect
You have the right to be treated with respect, including privacy and recognition of your cultural, religious, social, and personal values.
2. Fair Treatment
Your care should be free from discrimination, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, beliefs, or other personal characteristics. You should never face force, threats, or harassment.
3. Dignity & Independence
Your dignity and independence should be honoured throughout your care, empowering you to participate fully in decisions about your health.
4. Appropriate Standards
You can expect care that meets professional, ethical, and legal standards, tailored to your needs, and focused on minimising harm while improving your quality of life.
5. Effective Communication
You should receive clear, understandable information in a way that suits you. If needed, providers must offer interpreters or other support to ensure open, honest, and two-way communication.
6. Information
You have the right to complete, honest information about your condition, treatment options (including benefits, risks, and costs), and any involvement in teaching or research. You should be able to ask questions and receive written summaries if you wish.
7. Choice & Consent
You have the right to make informed decisions about your treatment, including understanding the benefits, risks, alternatives, and what happens if you choose not to proceed. Consent should be voluntary, given after you have had enough information and time to consider your options. You may also change your mind at any time before treatment.
8. Support
You can have a support person with you during appointments and treatments, providing emotional support and helping you communicate with healthcare providers, as long as it is safe and respects others’ rights.
9. Teaching & Research
If you’re involved in teaching or research, you should be fully informed about what it involves and provide voluntary consent without pressure. Your decision will not affect the care you receive.
10. Complaints Taken Seriously
If you’re unhappy with your care or feel your rights were not respected, you can make a complaint. Providers must listen, respond promptly, and keep you informed. You can access independent advocacy and contact the Health and Disability Commissioner for support.
If Something Doesn’t Feel Right
If you weren’t listened to, felt pressured, or didn’t receive the information you needed, you can speak up. Two national services can help:
Nationwide Health & Disability Advocacy Service
This free, independent service can help you understand your rights and resolve concerns directly with your provider – without needing to file a formal complaint.
An advocate can:
- Support you to write letters or speak up in meetings
- Help you navigate tricky conversations with clinicians
- Make sure your voice is heard and your concerns taken seriously
Visit: advocacy.org.nz
Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC)
If your issue is serious or remains unresolved, you can take it further with the HDC, which independently investigates complaints and holds services accountable.
The Commissioner may:
- Launch an investigation into a provider or system
- Recommend systemic changes
- Refer serious breaches to legal proceedings
Visit: hdc.org.nz
| You Have the Right To… | So You Can… |
| Make informed, supported decisions | Ask questions, take time, refuse treatment |
| Be treated with respect and cultural safety | Bring a support person, assert your values |
| Access appropriate care and communication | Request second opinions, plain language info |
| Speak up when something feels wrong | Use an advocate, raise concerns, file complaints |
Healthcare decisions – especially ones involving surgery, hormones, or long-term implications – deserve time, care, and true partnership. Informed consent is not a box to tick. It is your right, and it is the responsibility of health professionals to honour it – not just legally, but ethically.
References
Nationwide Health & Disability Advocacy Service | Ngā Kaitautoko
Health & Disability Commissioner | Te Toihau Haura, Hauātanga
Medical Council of New Zealand | Te Kaunihera Rata O Aotearoa, Informed Consent: Helping Patients Make Informed Decisions About Their Care. June 2021.
[Updated: 4 August 2025]
Surgical Menopause New Zealand Trust 