PLAB 2 consent stations: a complete guide

In a consent station the examiner is testing whether you can help a patient make a genuine, informed decision — not whether you can recite a list of risks. Valid consent has three ingredients: the patient has capacity, they have enough information, and the choice is voluntary.

The three pillars of valid consent

• Capacity — the patient can understand, retain, weigh and communicate the decision.
• Information — benefits, the material risks, and the alternatives (including doing nothing).
• Voluntariness — the decision is the patient’s own, free from pressure.

A structure for a consent station

1. Establish what the patient understands and why the procedure is proposed.
2. Explain the procedure in plain language, including any sedation or anaesthetic.
3. Cover the benefits, the common effects, and the serious risks honestly and proportionately.
4. Offer the alternatives, including no treatment.
5. Check capacity and voluntariness, answer questions, and confirm the decision.

Pitch the risks proportionately

Explain both common and serious risks, but in proportion — neither glossing over them nor frightening the patient. UK guidance on consent and shared decision-making is set out by the GMC; aligning with it signals safe practice. See the GMC’s decision making and consent guidance.

Common pitfalls

• Reciting risks without checking the patient is following.
• Omitting the alternatives or the option of no treatment.
• Failing to confirm the decision is voluntary.
• Using jargon about the procedure.

Practise consent stations on ZWIP for a range of procedures, and use the feedback to check your explanations are clear, balanced and genuinely shared.